Charmed: The Next Generation
by chawk1993
Summary: When Piper, Phoebe and Paige willingly retire from being the Charmed Ones, they pass the job over to Piper's three children; Wyatt, Chris and Melinda. They will endure adventure, romance, heartbreak and the consequences of being Charmed.
1. The Next to be Charmed

**A/N: **_Hey Charmed Fans! This is my second Charmed fic but my first multi chapter Charmed fic. I hope you enjoy the first chapter. The songs I used for this chapter were:_

_My Baby- Britney Spears (Melinda's birth)  
_

_Duel of the Fates- John Williams (Melinda, Chris and Wyatt's first battle against Darklighters)_

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

**The Next to be Charmed**

* * *

_28 __March 2007_

* * *

Halliwell Manor was unusually quiet for March. The chaos was somewhat limited due to the pregnant bellies of the Charmed Ones. Piper Halliwell, the eldest, was expecting her third and final child with her now mortal husband Leo. Their sons, Wyatt and Chris, were looking forward to the birth of their little sister. They knew just how much their mother had always wanted a daughter.

The middle sister, Phoebe, was expecting a daughter with her Cupid husband Coop whom they had decided to name Prudence Johanna in honour of Phoebe's oldest sister Prue who was killed many years ago by the Shax. The child's middle name, Johanna, was taken from Grams, whose maiden name was Johnson.

Paige, the youngest, was expecting twins with her mortal husband Henry. There had constantly bickered as Henry wanted to know what the twins' sexes were while Paige didn't. After a bit of persuasion from Billie, the sisters' protégé and 'other sister', Henry decided that he wanted it to be a surprise., much to Paige's enjoyment.

With the support of Victor and Sam, the Charmed Ones' fathers, the sisters were looking forward to their new arrivals. While Sam wasn't around as often as Victor was, Paige reluctantly allowed him to play a very small part in her life.

"Aunty Paige!" Wyatt cried as he ran down the stairs of the manor. Paige and Henry had just orbed in to help Victor babysit the boys.

"Hi, honey." Paige said as she struggled to pick up her eldest nephew. "How are you?"

"Good." Wyatt smiled.

"Hey Wyatt." Henry said smiling at his nephew.

"Hi Uncle Henry." Henry smiled as he ruffled Wyatt's hair.

"Hi guys." Victor said as he walked into the room with Chris in his arms.

"Hey!" Paige and Henry greeted.

"Uncle Henry!" Chris cried.

"Hey Chris!" Henry laughed.

"Hey, what about me?" Paige said seemingly offended that her youngest nephew had spoken to her husband before her.

"Aunty Paige!" Chris said with a smile.

"Hey baby," Paige said smiling teasingly at her youngest nephew. "How have the boys been?" she asked turning to her 'second' father. She considered Victor to be more her father more then her biological father was. Victor had long accepted Paige as one of his girls.

"They've been really well behaved, haven't you, boys?" Victor said turning to his grandsons.

"Yes, Grandpa." The boys chorused.

"Well, that's good." Paige said as she kissed Wyatt on the cheek.

"Yucky!" Wyatt cried. Paige chuckled before she leaned over to put the boy down.

"Come in guys and Paige, you look hungry." Paige could feel her stomach turn over.

"Good thinkin'. These two have Henry's appetite." She said before following Victor and the boys into the kitchen.

* * *

"So tell me," Victor said to Paige. "How long until they're born?" he watched as Paige finished her fifth cookie.

"About four and a half months to go. God, it feels like I'm carrying a boulder." Paige sighed as she looked down at her swollen stomach. Unlike her sisters, her belly was a lot bigger for the end of her first trimester. She had seen women in movies and television shows that were carrying twins but she never imagined she would be carrying twins herself.

"Aunty Paige." Paige looked up to see Chris grinning at her.

"What's up, little man?" she asked.

Chris pointed over her shoulder prompting her to turn her head. It was at that point that Coop beamed in.

"Hey!" Victor said in surprise as he looked up to see his son-in-law standing there.

"Hey, I just got word from Leo that Piper's gone into labour. He wants us at the hospital, like now." No one seemed to notice that Coop was extremely calm. Victor quickly sprung into action.

"Okay, Henry, take Chris, I'll take Wyatt and Paige, and you can orbed us." Victor and Henry picked up the boys and grabbed Paige's hands before they orbed to the hospital where they met Phoebe and Leo.

"Hey! How is she?" Victor asked.

"Daddy!" The boys cried as Henry and Victor put them down. They ran over to their father.

"Hey boys. Were you good for Grandpa, Aunt Paige and Uncle Henry?" Leo asked prompting the boys to nod. Leo kissed them both on their foreheads. There were footsteps behind him and he turned to see Piper's doctor walking out of her room. "How is she?" he asked, the worry evident in his voice.

"She and the baby are fine. Congratulations Leo, you have a healthy baby girl." From where they were standing, Wyatt and Chris exchanged happy smiles. While the brothers were now inseparable, they were glad that they final got the sister that their parents had always wanted them to have.

"Can we see them?" Henry asked.

"Sure but be very quiet." Leo took the boys by the hands and led them into their mother's room with their aunts, uncles and grandfather in tow.

* * *

Piper gazed lovingly down at the bundle in her arms. She could see herself and a little bit of Leo in her daughter. She could see the traditional Halliwell hazel brown hair but the child's eyes were a mix of brown and green. Wyatt had brown eyes while Chris had inherited her late sister Prue's emerald green. _Okay, _she thought. _My little Melinda has inherited BOTH her brothers' eye colours. No big deal. _She looked up when she heard the sound of footsteps.

"Is that her?" Leo asked. She smiled and nodded before leading Wyatt and Chris into the room with Phoebe, Paige and their husbands not far behind.

"Leo, boys. Meet Prudence Melinda Halliwell." Piper said her eyes still on her daughter. Leo scooped up the boys and placed them on the bed. By now, Piper's sisters and brothers-in-law had gathered around the bed.

"Mommy?" Chris said causing Piper to look at him. "She's cute." Piper smiled at her youngest son.

"Chris, Wyatt," Piper said causing the boys to move closer to her. "You are Melinda's big brothers. Can you look after her when daddy and I aren't around?" Wyatt and Chris looked at each other before turning their eyes back in their mother and nodded.

Wyatt knew what it was like to be a big brother. He had been a big brother for a while and it was his duty to teach Chris the ropes. While they argued like all siblings, the boys were very close and looked out for each other. Now that Melinda was born, it was their duty as her brothers to protect her from harm.

As the months went by, Paige and Phoebe gave birth to their own daughters. Paige and Henry welcomed their twin daughters, Tamora and Katherine into the world four and a half months after the birth of Melinda.

Three months later, Phoebe and Coop welcomed Prudence Johanna into the world. A few years later, Phoebe and Coop welcomed two more daughters into the family, Parker and Pandora. It didn't come as much surprise to Phoebe that her three daughters were half Cupid. She did worry that they would come into their powers too soon in the same way Wyatt did but after much conversation with Coop, she felt better and knew that the girls would learn to control their powers over time. She didn't mention the fact that her girls were in the running with Wyatt, Chris and Melinda for the Charmed prophecy. She hoped that Wyatt, Chris and Melinda were the chosen ones but she kept her worries and concerns to herself.

In 2008, Paige and Henry adopted a baby boy they named Henry Junior. Paige even got together enough courage to introduce her family to her biological father, Sam. While it came as a surprise to Sam that his daughter was now a wife and a mother to three children, he informed her that he was proud of her and gave his approval in her choice of husband in Henry. As much as he loved his grandchildren and his son-in-law, Sam was a little disappointed that he couldn't spend as much time with them as Victor did and told Paige that if she ever needed him for anything, all she had to do was call.

The Halliwell/Matthews/Mitchell family was at its peak and there was nothing that was going to bring it down.

* * *

_16 Years Later…_

* * *

It was the middle of September and the Halliwell Manor was in total chaos. Chris hurried to finish making Melinda's lunch for her first day back at school. Since Piper and Leo had been given a year long vacation by the elders for all their hard work over the years, they had entrusted Chris in taking care of the house while Wyatt handled his new status as deputy headmaster at Magic School.

It was the morning in which Melinda was to return to school for her sophomore year with their cousins Tamora, Kat and Prue while Tamora and Kat's brother, Henry Junior, known simply as H.J. was to start his freshman year. Parker was to start in the sixth grade while Pandora was due to start the second grade.

Paige had dropped the twins and H.J. off at the manor before she went to tend to her charges. Henry had left for work early leaving the kids with Paige. She had decided to drop them at their cousins' at the last minute.

"Mel!" Chris cried over Tamora and H.J's argument with Kat. "Lunch!" Melinda orbed into the kitchen and grabbed her lunch before kissing Chris on the cheek and pulling the twins and H.J. to their feet. They waved and orbed out.

Chris collapsed into a nearby chair. What a morning and it wasn't even 9am. He noticed that Melinda had forgotten her laptop and it was open on her email account. There was one unopened email from Billie, their surrogate aunt. Deciding to answer it, he opened the email and read it:

_To: Mel Halliwell_

_CC:_

_Subject: Visit_

_Hey Mel,_

_Thanks for getting back to me. I would love to come and visit. When can I come down? There's some news I would like to share with you and your brothers. Is today ok? Get back to me soon._

_Aunt Billie._

Chris knew exactly what to say back to her.

_To: Billie Jenkins_

_CC:_

_Subject: Re: Visit_

_Hey Aunt Billie,_

_It's Chris. Today would be great. Don't tell Mel that I'm on her computer. She'll kill me. Come down when you're ready._

_Chris._

Half an hour later, Chris checked again and Billie had replied to his email.

_To: Mel Halliwell_

_CC:_

_Subject: Re: Visit_

_Hey Chris,_

_Long time no hear, hey? I'm on my way now. I'll see you this afternoon._

_Billie._

_P.S. Your secret is safe with me._

Chris nodded at the screen and closed it before going up to the attic to the Book of Shadows.

* * *

Wyatt looked through his father's paperwork with envy. How did Leo cope with all this paperwork plus teaching classes? Leo had also assigned Wyatt his classes. There was a knock at the office door and one of Leo's students appeared the doorway.

"Yes, Alyssa?" Wyatt said putting what he was looking at aside.

"Sorry, Wyatt, I was hoping I could talk to you." Alyssa said as she awkwardly walked to stand in front of him.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Leo assigned me and a few others this assignment that we don't understand the concept of. I was hoping you could explain it to us in class?"

"Sure, I was going to explain it anyway." Wyatt said nodding.

Alyssa nodded before turning and leaving the room. With a sigh, Wyatt went back to the paperwork that his father had ultimately burdened him with. He wondered what Chris was up to with their chaotic cousins and sister.

* * *

Melinda sat in her English class with her best friend Theresa on her left and Theresa's brother Duncan on her right. With her eyes on the old blackboard on the wall at the front of the room, she doodled on the front of her notebook. Next to her, Duncan sniggered at the stick figure that she had drawn of the teacher, Ms. Harper squabbling with the teacher's pets, Mindy Hawke and Andrew Shooter over Hamlet.

"Mr. Stone, is there anything something you would like to share?" Ms. Harper asked. Duncan cringed. Harper was like a vulture. Even when her eyes weren't on something, she could still get you for your misdeeds.

"No ma'am. Nothing." He said quickly. Harper eyed him with malice and went back to her squabbling. Duncan sighed with relief as he turned his eyes back to Melinda's doodling. She smiled wickedly as she finished her picture.

"Perfect. If I do say so myself." Melinda grinned as she looked up at her friend. Duncan smiled back before the school bell interrupted them. Gathering their things, Melinda and her friends made their way to cafeteria where they ate their homemade lunches.

Melinda cringed as she pulled her sandwich out of the brown paper bag. She hated Chris' sandwiches. The bread was always stale and the dressings were always a few days old.

"That does look awful. Why don't you go and buy something worth eating?" Theresa said with a kind smile.

Melinda smiled in return. "I think I might. I won't be long." It only took Melinda a couple of minutes before she returned with something more appealing. "This looks so much better." She said as she sat down.

"So how was your summer?" Duncan asked casually.

"The normal, spent time with the family and Magic School. Practiced our new dance routine and tried to teach Chris, didn't go as well as I planned but hey, I tried. Oh and I FINALLY mastered hovering. Anyway, how about you guys?"

"Our normal thing too. Whitelighter training camp is THE worst type of camp known to magical beings everywhere. Blame our father for forcing us to go since we were five. You would really think that the novelty would have worn off by now. Oh no." Theresa said sarcastically.

"Tess, it wasn't THAT bad." Duncan said with a sigh.

"You're one to talk, Egg," Tess spat. "You're the oldest. Dad has always treasured you." Melinda watched as Tess continued to rant. Melinda had always known that Tess and Duncan's father, Harold, had always favoured Duncan over Tess because he was the older of the two and the 'heir' to the family.

"Okay guys. That's enough. Talk it out in your own time. Right now, we have to get to the studio. I promised Tamora and Kat that I would show them our new dance and Kat is going to kill me because I didn't get to finish editing the video that we made over the weekend." Melinda cringed. She told her friends everything and the video had been one of them. Duncan helped Melinda by disposing of her lunch tray along with Chris' vile sandwich before he followed Melinda and Tess out of the cafeteria and towards the studio.

* * *

The afternoon came around quickly and before Chris knew it, there was a knock on the front door of the manor. Hurrying down the stairs from the attic, he reached the door just before there was another knock.

"Aunt Billie." Chris said with a smile as he opened the door to see his surrogate aunt standing on the porch.

"Chris, it's great to see you honey." Billie said as she hugged him. Chris looked down as he pulled out of the hug to see something that he hadn't expected.

"You're pregnant! When? Mel's emails never mentioned this." Chris said as he stepped aside to allow Billie over the threshold before he closed the door.

"That's what I wanted to tell you in person. Where are Wyatt and Mel?"

"Well, Wyatt's filling in for dad at Magic School and Mel's at school. They'll be home soon."

"Well I hope so. I didn't travel from LA to San Francisco for nothing." She teased causing Chris to frown.

"I'm kidding, sweetie. God, you have changed."

Chris scoffed. "I haven't changed that much. I'm just more responsible then what I use to be. That's all." Billie nodded.

Orbs appeared and Wyatt appeared a moment later. "Hey, I just, Billie, hey!" Wyatt said as he hurried over to hug his surrogate aunt.

"Hey sweetie, how are you?" Billie said as she pulled out of Wyatt's hug.

"Fine thanks. Look at you. You're pregnant, hey? When did this happen?"

"It happened after this happened." Billie held up her hand to reveal a wedding ring and an engagement ring.

"You're married? When? How?" Chris asked in surprise.

"Like I said in my email, I had to tell you these things myself. It didn't feel right to tell you through the use of email."

A second jingle rang out and Melinda herself orbed into the room. "Aunt Billie! What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. From Wyatt's side, Chris cringed. He greatly respected Melinda's privacy but when it came to Billie, it concerned him and Wyatt as well.

"I thought I would come around. You know travellin' six hours is a long time." Billie smiled. Melinda couldn't help but return the smile. She loved Billie and thought of her as a member of the family. Phoebe had been right. Billie hadn't been evil. She had just been torn between her sister and the Charmed Ones. It had taken Phoebe a while to talk Piper and Paige around this very important fact but it had succeeded even if Leo had helped her out.

"So, how has school been? Have those half-witted cheerleaders gotten on your nerves yet?" Billie asked, a hand sitting on her stomach.

"No. It's only the first day back." Melinda shrugged.

"There is something else I would like to share with you guys too."

"Spill it." Wyatt said.

"My husband and I were thinking of moving back in with Phoebe, Coop and the girls. It's just we have no other family and you Halliwells are the closest thing to family that we have. Not that he knows you guys yet but he will."

"What would be great but why are you telling us? You should be talking to Aunt Phoebe about it." Chris said.

"I know but I thought I would seek your approval before I asked her. I mean, Piper still has it out for me even though I never meant to betray her all those years ago, it was Christy's influence that turned me."

"We understand don't worry. I don't think our mom has it out for you its just ever since Aunt Prue was killed she has had trouble trusting people who have sided with evil." Melinda said.

Chris and Wyatt nodded in agreement.

Another jingle sounded and the trio's cousin, Kat orbed in.

"Hey guys!" she greeted with a simple wave. Her red hair sat at her shoulders. Like her mother, she always changed her hair but unlike Paige, she never coloured it.

"Hey." The trio greeted dully. Billie cleared her throat and Kat turned her head to look at her.

"Aunt Billie?" Billie nodded. Kat's face lightened before she stepped over to hug her. "It is so good to see you."

"You too. You look so much like Paige its weird." Billie said brightly.

"Thanks, I think." Kat frowned before she turned to face Melinda. "Mel, do you have the video that we did over the weekend?"

"Yeah. Flash drive!" A moment later the USB flash drive appeared in Melinda's palm. "It's all on there. It's not finished but I have a copy of it on my laptop so I should have it done by tonight." Kat nodded before she waved as she orbed out. Melinda sighed in relief. She thought Kat was going to scream at her.

There was silence before Billie spoke. "So, tell me, how does it feel to have the house to yourselves?" Chris and Wyatt looked at each other before Wyatt spoke up.

"Well, I'm not here a lot because I'm at Magic School most of the time but it does feel good to be free, so to speak." Wyatt looked to Melinda before his face fell.

"What?" Chris asked.

"Something's gone amiss at Magic School. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that he orbed out leaving Chris and Melinda with Billie.

"What could have gone wrong? He was only just there." Melinda said as she turned to Chris.

"Dunno. Come on." Chris grabbed Melinda by the arm and as if it were a chain reaction, Melinda took Billie's hand and together they orbed to Magic School.

* * *

Wyatt orbed into his father's office to see the room completely ransacked. The paperwork that he had been reading earlier on in the day was scattered everywhere. He turned and jogged out into the corridor to see windows smashed and students sitting huddled together in terrified groups, holding each other and comforting each other in believing everything would be alright.

"Wyatt!" Wyatt's head snapped in the direction of Alyssa, the student he had spoken to that morning.

"Alyssa, what the hell happened up here? Where is the rest of the staff?"

"They're coming." Alyssa said. Wyatt gulped.

"Who's coming?" he asked.

"Darklighters."

Wyatt's face darkened.

* * *

Melinda, Chris and Billie orbed into the staffroom of Magic School to find it deserted. It was quiet. Too quiet for their liking.

"Where is everyone?" Billie asked as she looked around. The soles of her shoes thudded heavily on the floor.

"I don't know." Chris murmured.

"Ahh!" Chris' head snapped in the direction of his sister who had fallen to her knees with her hands clamped over her ears. Going over to her, he crouched down and placed a hand on her arm. He was pulled from the present into some strange kind of vision.

_Wyatt walked down the corridor outside Leo's office. An unknown force strikes him before he falls to the ground, dead._

Chris gasped but still held Melinda's shoulder. Now it was her turn to look worried.

"Chris? You alright?"

"Darklighters are coming," Chris whispered just loud enough for Melinda and Billie to hear. The two looked at each other before Chris pulled Melinda to her feet before he spoke again. "Come on, we need to find Wyatt."

Billie and Melinda only had a second to exchange looks before Chris pulled them down the hallway.

* * *

Wyatt listened hard for the sound of orbing but was caught off guard when he was forcibly thrown into the wall at the opposite-side of the room. Though he was stunned, he caught the sound of skidding and then the sight of his brother, sister and surrogate aunt hurrying around the corner.

"Wyatt!" Billie cried as she started to run towards him but Chris stopped her.

"No, not in your condition." Before Billie could protest, Chris orbed her back to the manor. Chris and Melinda hurried to their brother's side.

"You alright?" Melinda asked as she helped Chris to pull Wyatt to his feet. Before he could answer, a darklighter black orbed in front of them.

"Well, well, well," Sneered the darklighter. "If it isn't the next Power of Three. It's about time your bound powers came to light. Now you'll die because of what your mother and aunts did to my kind." Without hesitation, the darklighter summoned his crossbow and aimed it at Wyatt before firing an arrow. Melinda was quick to repel it.

"Arrow!" She swung her hand through the air and changed the arrow's course. Though it missed the darklighter, it lodged in the wall just next to his ear.

"Crossbow!" Chris cried and the crossbow orbed out of the darklighter's hands and into his own. He was quick to shoot a crossbow bolt at the darklighter. He yelled and cursed as he burned up and was sent to the depths of the Underworld.

The sound of orbs filled the trio's ears and Tamora orbed in. "Hey!" she greeted.

"Now is not a good time, Tam," Melinda said with a sigh. "We're fighting darklighters."

Tamora's face fell. "Well, let me help you."

"No, Tam. Aunt Paige will kill us if anything happens to you." Wyatt said. As much as he loved Tamora, he knew only too well that if Paige knew about this, she would kill him and his siblings if anything happened to one of her children.

"I don't care what mom says or what you guys say. I'm helping you." Tamora smiled slyly at her cousins causing the trio to look at each other with frowns.

"All right, but first things first," said Chris finally. "Go back to the manor and check on Aunt Billie. She was here and wanted to help but I orbed her back to the manor. Go check on her for us please. We'll leave you a couple of darklighters to vanquish, we promise."

"Deal." With that Tamora orbed out. Just as their cousin's orbs faded out, another darklighter black orbed in.

The summoned his crossbow like his companion before him but didn't utter a word to the trio. Chris watched as the darklighter aimed his crossbow at Melinda.

"Mel!" he yelled.

Melinda yelped and raised her hands causing the darklighter to freeze. Wyatt and Chris gasped at the sight of the frozen enemy. Melinda looked down at her hands. She had seen her mother freeze people in the past but had never expected that she would be able to do it herself.

"How did you do that?" Wyatt croaked.

"No idea." Melinda croaked in returned as she exchanged looks with her brothers who looked just as frightened as she did.

"Is there anymore?" Wyatt asked. As soon as he spoke, more darklighters blacked orbed in front of them "Oh god!"

"Well, well, well," said the leader darklighter. "If it isn't the offspring of Piper Halliwell." Wyatt, Chris and Melinda stepped closer to each other. "You will pay for your mother and aunts' battles against us and demons alike."

"Fight them, not us. It's not our war!" Wyatt said, stepping forward. His arms were spread wide protectively around Chris and Melinda, as he didn't have time to activate a shield.

"You're still Halliwells," said the leader. "That makes you responsible!" He and his companions summoned crossbows.

"Crossbows!" the Halliwell siblings cried. The crossbows orbed into their arms. Before the darklighters were able make a move, the trio fired the crossbows. The darklighters screamed as they vanished in a smoky cloud of flame.

There was silence before Melinda spoke up. "Are they gone?" There was another moment of silence before a moment later Wyatt voiced his opinion.

"I think so, come on, we need to find the staff and students."

It wasn't long before the trio had found every student and teacher hidden safely in their classrooms. Wyatt had to call a staff meeting after the teachers had checked their rolls to make sure that all their students were accounted for.

"Why would they be after you?" Bailey the librarian asked.

"We have no idea," Chris said simply. "It's not like we're our mom or our aunts."

"Maybe there's an explanation to this." Tamora said. She had returned from checking on Billie to find that Chris had lied to her. The darklighters had been vanquished and not one left for her to vanquish. She made a mental note to pummel Chris to a bloody pulp later.

"Maybe," Bailey agreed. "Go home and summon either your great-grandmother or your grandmother. Maybe they know something about this."

Chris nodded and was about to orb home with Melinda and Wyatt when Tamora called him back. "Chris," he turned. "You and I have to have a serious talk." Tamora raised her eyebrows sinisterly at him making him shudder. She was nothing like Paige. She was the polar opposite to her mother and her twin sister. "Now go. Don't keep Billie waiting." Chris hurried to his brother and sister's sides before they orbed home.

* * *

Billie sighed as she flicked through the Book of Shadows. She had her feet on the arm of the couch in the living room. She sat up when the sound of jingling reached her ears. She waited while the trio had formed fully before she spoke.

"What happened?" she asked frantically getting to her feet.

"We were attacked by darklighters. Tam came down to check on you, right?" Melinda informed her with a frown.

"Yeah she did but she didn't tell me what was going on. She said you guys would tell me what was going on so spill it or," she paused before a threatening smile crossed her face. "I'll call your parents and they can deal with you."

Chris narrowed his eyes at her. "You wouldn't because I can tell."

Billie raised her eyebrows at him.

"Alright! Can we get back on task please?" Melinda said. "Right, watch this." She walked towards the couch and faced the vase on the side table. She gestured with her hands at her target and the vase blew to bits. She quickly raised her hands and the bits vase froze. She then turned to see the expressions on her brothers' and surrogate aunt's faces.

"You have mom's power." Wyatt croaked in shock.

"What about you Chris?" Billie asked quickly coming out of her shock.

"Call me crazy but I think I have Aunt Phoebe's power of premonition."

"What makes you think that?" Melinda asked.

"Well, when I touched your arm when you fell to your knees, I had a premonition of Wyatt being killed by a darklighter."

"We managed to stop it though." Melinda said.

"Yeah, Aunt Phoebe always said her visions could be avoided or changed." Melinda said knowingly. She had heard Phoebe's stories about her premonitions so many times that it felt like she had premonitions herself.

"Plus you have telekinesis so that makes you like Prue and Penny and of course Wyatt has that power too." Billie said with a smile.

"It's not fair!" Melinda complained.

"What's not fair, sweetie?" Billie asked.

"Why is it, my brothers have multiple powers and my powers are limited?"

"Well, you were conceived when dad was mortal. Chris and I were conceived when dad was a whitelighter."

"Actually, from what the elders have said, when Melinda was conceived, your father may have been mortal but because he had been a whitelighter for so long, his whitelighter DNA became ingrained with his mortal DNA so Melinda inherited most of a whitelighter's standard powers plus your mom's freezing/blowing up power." Billie said remembering what Phoebe had told her.

"Wow, you remember all that?" Chris asked in astonishment.

"I've known your family a very long time, Chris. It only makes sense." Billie said with a smile.

"Can we go and summon Grams or Grandma now please? I'm dying to kick their spirits butts if we don't get straight answers from them." Melinda said as she started to head towards the stairs.

"Hey, wait up!" Chris cried as he jogged up the stairs after her. Catching up with her, he slung an arm around her shoulders. "You are too much like mom." Melinda laughed as they walked towards the second floor landing that led to the attic. Downstairs, Wyatt rolled his eyes and led Billie up the stairs towards the attic.

* * *

By the time the pair reached the attic, Chris and Melinda had already set up the candles in the circle and had the found spell that they needed. Billie went to sit over in a dusty old armchair while Wyatt lit the candles before going over to join his brother and sister.

"Ready?" Melinda asked her eyes still on the book.

"Ready." Her brothers chorused together.

"_Hear these words, _

_Hear my cry, _

_Spirit from the other side, _

_Come to me, _

_I summon thee, _

_Cross now the great divide"_

Billie watched on proudly as the three kids that she thought of as her niece and nephews, worked together in summoning the spirit of either their grandmother or their great-grandmother.

There was a swirl of bright light and Patty appeared. A look of triumph crossed Melinda's face and she held out her hand to Chris who sighed in defeat and handed over ten dollars. She mouthed her thanks to him; ignoring the dirty look he was giving her before she pocketed the cash in the back pocket of her jeans.

"Chris? Mel? Wyatt?" Patty questioned. Her grandchildren nodded before she looked over in the direction of Billie. "Billie?" Billie struggled to get to her feet but nodded nonetheless.

"We need to ask you something." Wyatt said hesitantly.

Patty stepped out of the circle of candles and became solid. "Anything, dear."

"You might find us crazy, but we think we're Charmed." Wyatt watched his grandmother's face for any change in emotion. When her face didn't change, he waited until she finally spoke.

"That's wonderful!" Wyatt's face turned to total disbelief.

"What? You're happy that we're Charmed?" He exchanged looks with Chris who was equally as stunned.

"Grams and Prue have been betting on you three becoming Charmed." Patty told them. Her three oldest grandchildren looked at each other.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Chris asked, trying not to lose his temper.

"Oh, right, sorry. This is a very good thing," Patty told them gently. "Why are you so concerned?"

"We have no idea how we got our new powers, Grandma and to tell you the truth," Melinda paused and looked at her brothers before turning her gaze back to Patty. "It's really starting to scare us."

"Before we draw any conclusions on how scary your new powers are, tell me, when did you trigger them?" There was a moment of silence before finally, Melinda spoke her concerns about her new power.

"Well, it was Chris who told me to blow up a darklighter and I did. I never expected it to work." The teenager's voice trembled in fear. She remembered the story Phoebe had told her about her mother accidentally blowing up various kitchen appliances and a watermelon in the early days when they had received their powers. She had decided to leave out the Magic School bit.

"But it did, I'm proud that my oldest granddaughter has my power. It's a three-generation running streak now. First me then Piper now you, oh I couldn't have been more prouder," Patty said. If she were alive she would have cried. "Alright, Chris what about you?"

"I have Aunt Phoebe's premonitions. I don't know how. The future me didn't have it." Chris said in puzzlement. He had heard the stories of his future self appearing to prevent a then baby Wyatt from turning evil.

"Maybe, that version of yourself just didn't realise he had the power of premonition." Patty suggested.

"Doesn't seem logical, I mean, remember what Aunt Phoebe told us?" Wyatt asked. "When she first received her power, she couldn't call upon them at will. They only came to her when she touched something at random. Maybe it was same for future you. Maybe it was something that he – I mean, you – decided not to tell mom and her sisters." Chris considered it.

"Maybe."

"Well, Wyatt, that leaves telekinesis. You've always known you had it. Is it any more powerful then normal?"

Wyatt turned and focused on the vase of dead flowers that was sitting on a nearby shelf. He raised one hand and the vase went flying across the room.

"Mel." Chris said, tapping Melinda on the shoulder. She raised both her hands at the same time and the vase froze in midair. Chris walked across the room and grabbed the vase, took the flowers out and gestured for Melinda to freeze the flowers. Wyatt gave him a confused look.

"Mom's favourite vase." Chris told him simply. Wyatt nodded.

"Amazing control." Patty said in amazement.

"We did come into our powers from a young age." Wyatt smiled.

"You did, Mel and I didn't." Chris scoffed.

"You were like what, two when you came into your powers?" Wyatt asked Chris.

"You didn't come into your powers at all. You could use your powers from the womb." Chris said stiffly.

"Guys…"

"Like Aunt Phoebe." Wyatt said brightly. From where they were standing, Patty and Billie watched the exchange between the brothers with their sister stuck in the middle.

"Yeah coming from the guy who cheated at Candy Land." Chris retorted.

"I was three. You have never let me live it down."

"GUYS!" Melinda shouted. Wyatt and Chris went quiet and turned to see the angry look on her face. "Give it a rest will you? Its not all about you two." Melinda then turned to their grandmother. "Grandma, what do you think happened? How did we trigger these powers?" Patty stood thoughtful for a moment.

"I'm not sure. I remember when your mother and your aunts, before Piper and Phoebe discovered Paige was their sister, Phoebe read from the Book of Shadows. If I remember correctly, the spell she read was called the Trinus Dominus spell. You've probably heard of it," Patty paused for a moment as she watched her grandchildren nod. Billie had returned to her armchair. "I know this might sound like I'm siding the elders, but from what they have said, if you three or Phoebe's girls possess the power of three, it would come natural meaning that there would be no need to recite the spell and they also said that your powers would only be triggered if evil got the upper hand again and from what I've witnessed from the spirit world, it looks like evil has gotten the upper hand."

The trio was stunned. Was what Patty was saying true? Or was she only trying to make them feel better?

"Well now what?" Melinda asked after a long period of silence.

"We take on mom and her sisters' fight." Chris said, looking from Wyatt to Melinda and to Patty. From where she was sitting, Billie beamed with pride. Patty grinned.

"Well, I must be going. Your great-grandmother will have a fit if I'm not back soon." Embracing her grandchildren and Billie, Patty said her goodbyes before walking back into the circle of candles and disappearing back into the underworld.

"You made a bold move." Billie said, breaking the awkward silence.

"Did we?" Chris said his eyes still on the circle of candles.

"You did and I think your parents will be very proud of you." Chris and Wyatt turned to see Billie beaming up at them. They returned the smile. They then turned to Melinda who was watching them from behind the Book of Shadows. There were no words to describe how they were feeling. They knew that it was their turn to continue their family legacy.

* * *

Later that night, Melinda lay in bed with a book in her hands. At the sound of knocking on the door of her room, she looked up to see Chris standing in the doorway.

"Hey." she said as she put her book down.

"Hey," he replied as he walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. "We've had an exciting afternoon haven't we?" he placed a hand on her knee.

"Yeah we have. I never expected you to get Aunt Phoebe's power of premonition." Chris chuckled.

"To tell you the truth, neither did I. I think I aimed a little too high. I was hoping for mom's power but…" he shrugged. "Wasn't meant to be, I suppose."

"You're lucky," Melinda said, Chris kept his eyes on her. "You have two of three Warren powers. I only have one."

"Oh Mel," Chris sighed. "Wyatt only has one."

"Yeah but he's the most powerful male witch to have ever lived and not to mention he's the first male to be born in generations in our family."

"Actually, he's the only male witch to have been born into our family, ever. I checked the family records and I can find no male witches in our family. All the Warren Witches were female and each was more powerful then the previous one. Cassandra Warren was more powerful then her mother Prudence and Prudence was more powerful her own mother, Melinda, your namesake."

"_Partial _namesake." Melinda corrected.

"Okay then, partial namesake," Chris said with a smirk. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Alright, get some sleep. I'll come and get you from school tomorrow. Perhaps we can spend the afternoon together, like we use to and then we'll join Wyatt at Magic School for dinner with Billie. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good." Melinda smiled at her favourite brother. She held up her arms for Chris to hug her. He knew he couldn't deny her one last request so he wrapped her in a tight hug. "I love you so much Chris."

"I love you too sis. Now, go to sleep or I will have to wake Wyatt up and you don't what to see Wyatt when he's half-asleep, trust me. It's hideous." Chris got up and headed for the door.

"Chris," he stopped and turned to face her. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Chris smiled as he acknowledged her for the final time that night. "We've become Charmed." With that, he flicked a finger and the lights in Melinda's room went out before he disappeared out the door.

Melinda sat up for a moment pondering over everything that had happened that afternoon. Billie's visit, the darklighter attack at Magic School, the triggering of the three Warren powers, Melinda could feel herself going stir crazy. Lying down, she closed her eyes and felt herself drifting into the world of dreams.

* * *

_NEXT TIME: The morning after the Halliwell siblings become charmed, they get the surprise of their lives when they receive unexpected inklings while Billie reveals why she has decided to pay the siblings a visit.  
_

_To be Continued..._


	2. The Tattoo and the Whitelighter

**A/N:**_Hey readers. I know it has been a really long time between updates but I have had Uni work to do and I have had very little time to write. I started this chapter ages ago but didn't get to finish it until today. The song that I've selected for this chapter is:_**  
**

_Brave by Jennifer Lopez (The Halliwell brave their visit to 'Up There'.)_

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

**The Tattoo and the Whitelighter**

* * *

Chris lay in bed the next morning feeling better then he had the day before. He remembered his promise to Melinda and knew that he couldn't disappoint her. Being the middle child of Piper and Leo, he always felt like a lot of responsibility had been placed upon him. Though he knew why his parents had put him in charge, he had always felt that they had given him _too much _responsibility. His mind flashed back to the day Melinda had been born and remembered the promise he had made to his mother.

"_Mommy, I will always be there for Mel. So will Wyatt." _

He had been only three at the time but he remembered it as if it had happened yesterday. His sister was his pride and joy and had found that he was very protective of her. Wyatt had taught him everything there was to know about being a big brother and he had remembered everything. He had to admit; Wyatt was a pretty good teacher. Now, being on the verge of his 19th birthday, he found that he was still the same as he had ever been, headstrong, stubborn, cunning and above all, overly protective of his little sister. He had threatened several guys who had shown any interest in her during the summer. Of course, Melinda had scolded him for it but what else could he do? No one asked his sister out without seeking his approval first.

"Chris!" Billie called from the kitchen downstairs. "Sweetie, come get breakfast."

"Coming!" he called as he sat up. "Ah!" he yelped when he caught a glimpse at his left wrist. There was a tattoo of the Book of Shadows triquetra inked in black on his wrist. _How the hell did this get here? _He thought to himself.

As he made his way downstairs, Chris looked at his wrist, which didn't go unnoticed by Billie.

"Morning honey," she said from the stove. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Morning, ah, nothing." Chris said distractedly as he sat down beside Wyatt.

"What's that?" Melinda asked looking up from her piece of toast. She pointed to the black that was exposed on her brother's down-turned wrist. Chris sighed and turned his wrist over so that the tattoo was facing up. Melinda gasped. "When were you going to tell us that you got a tattoo?" she asked.

"I didn't get one, it was there when I woke up." Chris retorted. He wasn't that stupid. He knew his mother would kill him if he got piercings or tattoos. She didn't want him or his siblings to get tattoos like she and her sisters did during their rebellious states of life.

"Ah-huh." Melinda said sounding rather unconvinced. She raised a hand up to scratch her forehead when Chris caught sight of her wrist.

"Um, Mel." He pointed to her arm. Melinda frowned and looked down at her wrist. She yelped at the sight of the triquetra that was inked on her wrist.

"What the hell?"

Wyatt laughed. "Sucked in guys." Billie listened from the stove. Chris and Melinda looked at each other. Wyatt wiped his tears of laughter away. Chris and Melinda looked up to see that in the centre of Wyatt's forearm, was a triquetra tattoo identical to theirs.

"Wyatt, check your right forearm." Chris said carefully. Wyatt ceased his laughter at the sight of his own tattoo.

"What the hell is happening to us?" he asked, his face lighting up in horror.

"Okay, guys, calm down. The best thing to do is, go and speak to the Elders. If they know anything, they'll be sure to tell you." Billie said calmly. Chris jumped to his feet.

"Come on, we don't have all day and Mel, you've got school so we have to hurry up." Wyatt and Melinda nodded in agreement before they orbed Up There to get their answers.

* * *

The Halliwell siblings orbed into the Hall of Elders and came face to face with Sandra. Sandra was one of the leading Elders but she was more tolerable then her fellow Elders. She had known the Halliwells and Leo for years and knew of how much they had endured over the years.

"Wyatt, Chris, Melinda, I know why you are here." Sandra said wisely.

"Of course you do," Chris said irritably. It was obvious he had no love for the Elders after all the stories he had heard growing up. These were the very same Elders who tried to keep his parents apart. His Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Prue had helped Piper and Leo fight against the Elders to allow them to marry. The elders were difficult magical beings and weren't to be underestimated.

Sandra didn't acknowledge the hate in his tone. "Follow me." She started to walk further into the hall prompting the siblings to do the same.

Upon following Sandra to the central meeting place of the Elders, the Halliwell siblings stopped in the centre while Sandra took her place on the outside of the circle.

"Wyatt Matthew, Christopher Perry and Prudence Melinda Halliwell, state your business here." Kyle Brody stated. He was an old family friend who had once dated Paige only to have died and was resurrected as a Whitelighter for his good deeds when he was human. He was often referred to as the crazed Avatar hunter who would have stopped at nothing but to make the Avatars non-existent. He was killed as a Whitelighter but was re-resurrected as a reward for helping the Charmed Ones.

"We have come to ask you why we have been given these tattoos upon becoming charmed." Wyatt said in response. He held out his right forearm to reveal his triquetra tattoo. There was utter silence as the siblings watched the assembled Elders exchange looks of knowledge. It was several minutes until they finally got an answer.

"These tattoos," said Brody. "Are to show the sibling bond between you. Unlike the sisterly bond that was shared between your mother and her three sisters both alive and dead, your bond is special and much more powerful. As there are only three of you as opposed to four, you are deemed more powerful then the original Charmed Ones."

"Does that include Aunt Paige?" Wyatt asked.

"Yes, it does," said Brody. "Back to business. The placing of the tattoos symbolise your positions in the new Power of Three. Wyatt, being the oldest, your tattoo is higher up your arm. Chris, your tattoo is on your left wrist as you are the middle child like your mother and Phoebe before you," Brody then turned to Melinda. "Mel, being the youngest, your tattoo is on your right wrist. As you all know, you each have a petal on the triquetra. Wyatt, you are the top, Chris, you are the left and Melinda, you are the right. Together, you are the circle, which I'm sure you know is the Power of One. In time you will learn to use it, but for now, you're more powerful individually."

The siblings didn't know what to say to that. As they looked up at Brody, they could see that he wasn't telling them everything that they needed to know but they knew that if Kyle had wanted to tell them he would have told them to begin with.

"May we go?" Chris asked, trying to keep his tone even.

"Not yet," Sandra said. "We have one more thing we wish to discuss with you."

"Okay but make it quick, I have to be at school in half an hour." Melinda said, her voice acidic.

"This will only take a moment, I promise." Brody chuckled.

Melinda exchanged looks with her brothers before turning her full attention to their lifelong friend.

"Now, as you well and truly know, before your father married your mother, he was her and your aunts' Whitelighter. Before your father left on his year long vacation with your mother, he asked me to do him one last favor and that was to assign you a Whitelighter. Now, I know that you're part-Whitelighter but your father wanted to be on the safe side so he asked me to assign his old friend Oliver Stone to you." Kyle turned his head prompting the New Charmed Ones to do the same.

A man clad in white stepped out from the shadows and joined Brody. The siblings could see Duncan and Tess in this man as he carried the one thing that Stone twins strongly possessed; sea green eyes. "Hello Halliwells." Said the man with a small smile.

Melinda's breath caught in her throat. The man looked a little like Tess and Duncan. "Oh, my god."

The man chuckled. "You must be Melinda. Tess and Duncan speak ever highly of you. One of the best young dancers in San Francisco and I mean that in a good way."

Melinda paled and turned to see the shocked expressions on the faces of her brothers. "How did you know that?" Wyatt asked.

"You must be Wyatt, yes, Tess speaks of how you are the most powerful male witch to ever live and to answer your question, like I said, Tess and Duncan filled me in without give away to much information."

"Right, and I think they gave away too much information." Chris muttered.

"Ah, Chris, right? Oliver Stone."

"Yeah and now exactly are you related to Tess and Duncan?"

"I'm their great- great- great- great uncle. Their father is my great-great-great nephew." Oliver explained.

"Well, that explains a lot." Wyatt said sarcastically, prompting Melinda to elbow him the ribs.

"Ah!" Wyatt said rubbing his wounded ribs.

"Right, ah, can we go? You know, back to the manor?" Chris asked.

"Sure." Oliver said before orbing down to the manor. "Okay, so since we're now back at the Manor," Oliver said once he and his new charges were safely in the living room of the Manor. "We need to talk about this."

"Sorry, can't. School." Melinda said before orbing out.

"Yeah, I've got classes to teach." Wyatt orbed a second after his sister leaving Chris to clean up the mess.

"I hate you both!" Chris hissed under his breath before turning to see Billie walk into the room. In her hands was a jar of peanut butter that she was eating with a spoon.

"I thought I heard voices, I-" She stopped when she saw Oliver. "Chris, who's this?" she asked pointing at Oliver.

Chris sighed in frustration. "Billie, this is Oliver, he's an old friend of dad's. He's also Tess and Duncan's so many great uncle."

"Hey," Billie said with a nod at Oliver.

"Hi." Was Oliver's reply.

"Oliver, this is Billie, she's an old family friend. She's somewhat of a surrogate aunt to us Halliwell kids."

"I have heard a lot of good things about you, Billie as well as the bad." Billie knew what he was referring to. He was referring to her part in the Ultimate Power, which she was more then happy not to talk about. It had been a dark period in her life and she didn't want to relive it.

"That's sweet of you, Oliver, really, but I would prefer it if you didn't bring up the Ultimate Power thing. It, uh, brings up bad memories for me."

"Of course." Oliver said sweetly.

There was a moment of silence before Chris spoke again. "Aunt Billie, was there something you wanted to say?"

"Yeah, there was but that can wait until tonight." Billie said. Chris could only nod. Out of himself, Wyatt and Melinda, he was he one who could endure a wait while the other two could not.

* * *

Wyatt stood in front of his father's Telekinetic Orbing class. Years ago, after it was discovered that Paige was a Whitelighter hybrid, a product of an affair that Patty had had with her Whitelighter and after Piper had fallen pregnant with Wyatt, the Elders had gathered and decided to relinquish the rule that had forbidden Whitelighters and witches from being together. The world now had quite a few Whitelighter hybrids with Paige and the British Whitelighter hybrid Simon Marks as the role models to the Whitelighter-witch community that not only contained Wyatt, his brother and sister but his cousins, Kat and Tamora as well.

"Wyatt?"

Wyatt looked around the room to see his Aunt Paige, watching him with concern. "Huh? Oh sorry Aunt Paige. What did you say again?"

"Honey, are you alright? You've looked off all morning." Paige said as she stepped to her nephew's side.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be okay?" Wyatt asked.

"Tell me, what's wrong." Paige said with a kind smile.

Wyatt sighed knowing that he couldn't hide anything from Paige. Over the years, the pair had become close and Wyatt had learned that he could go to Paige for anything.

"It's just the Elders assigned Chris, Mel and I our own Whitelighter this morning and it hasn't gone the way they expected. I mean, why do we even need a Whitelighter? We're _half_-Whitelighter. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"Sweetheart, the Elders know the risks. They would have assigned you a Whitelighter if they knew it was important and its clear to me that it is very important to them now that you've become charmed." Wyatt looked up at his aunt in surprise.

"How did you know about that?" he asked.

"I've had a hunch for a while that it might be you kids. I knew my kids were out for the count seeing as H.J. is mortal and is my adopted son."

"You never expected Prue and her sisters to become charmed?"

"I knew there was a small chance of them getting the powers but I was betting on you guys seeing as you are the oldest of the next generation of our family." Paige said smoothly. Wyatt eyed her for a moment before she finally cracked. "Okay! Kat told me when she got home. Tam dared her to."

"Did you tell mom?" Wyatt asked.

"Before you get huffy I had to tell her but I couldn't get through to her but I think she knows, through her maternal instincts." Paige said with a loving grin.

Wyatt pursed his lips and nodded. "Thanks Aunt Paige." He hugged her tightly.

"No worries honey. I'm always here if you need me."

* * *

Melinda sat in the library with her books scattered on the table in front of her. As she focused on her homework, she felt her eyesight starting to blur. For a good moment, she managed to regain regular focus but after a moment, her eyesight once again blurred. Looking around, she orbed home to find Billie lying on the couch. She looked up at the sound of Melinda's orbs.

"Mel, what are you doing here, honey?" she asked.

"Hi to you too." Melinda said frowning.

"What are you doing home so early?"

"I had a problem." Melinda sighed.

"Explain." Billie prompted, cocking her head to the side.

"Well, I was in the library at school doing my homework when my vision blurred. Not once but twice."

"And this is bad, because…?"

"Why are you really here?"

"What? When did this turn into something involving me?"

"Just answer the question." Melinda spat. When Billie didn't say anything, Melinda groaned and grabbed her arm before the witch orbed her to Magic School. Once they were in the safety of the vacant staffroom, Melinda called for her brothers. "Chris, Wyatt get your titanic arses here now!" There was the sound of orbs and Chris and Wyatt appeared.

"You called?" Chris said sounding irritated by his sister's call. Wyatt turns his gaze to his brother and elbowed him lightly in the shoulder.

"Billie is going to explain to us, why she's really here." Melinda said, her voice full of malice.

There was silence before Billie sighed and spoke up. "Alright, I've been assigned a mission from the Elders."

"What kind of mission?" Chris asked.

"The Elders want me to keep an eye on you."

"Oliver has already been assigned to do that." Wyatt said.

"That's not all. Before your parents went on their vacation, your mother asked me to pull some strings at Magic School for her. Even though your father is headmaster here, there are some things he has no control over. But being one half of the former Ultimate Power I was able to call in some favors from demons that owed me and Christy."

"You made deals with demons?" Chris screeched.

"Like I said, these demons owe me and I asked them to make themselves scarce." Billie said, her tone sounding tense.

Melinda and Wyatt exchanged looks while Chris tried to understand the current situation. "So let me get this straight: you asked demons to make themselves scarce while we came into our Charmed powers?"

Billie could only nod.

Wyatt, who had his arms crossed, had to know why Billie had done this for them. "Why?"

Billie's eyes shifted to him. She loved him like her own son as she had spent a lot of her time while she was trying to find Christy babysitting Chris and Wyatt when they were babies.

"Because, you three and Paige and Phoebe's kids are the closest things to nephews and nieces that I have. Your mother might not have liked me much after everything that I had done but it was all Christy's influence. I know she has forgiven me but I can't help but sense regret whenever I'm around her. She is the oldest Charmed sister. Phoebe has forgiven me like you are well aware but I cannot help but feel that your mom and Paige still have it out for me."

"Mom and Aunt Paige are the forgiving types trust me," Chris said, his eyes on the ground. "It just takes them longer to forgive somebody that has betrayed them. I don't think mom has ever been the same since Aunt Prue died." Billie nodded. Phoebe had told her all about Prue and how she had died at the hands of the Shax, the Source's most trusted assassin.

"I wish I had met her." Billie said, causing Chris to look up. He offered her a forgiving smile.

"Sorry all this Aunt Billie."

Billie returned his smile and stepped forward. " All is forgiven Chris. I don't suppose you're too old to give me a group hug."

Chris smiled and looked back over his shoulder at his brother and sister who returned his smile. They stepped forward and being mindful of Billie's enlarged belly, they group hugged her. They wanted this moment to last a little while longer but the sound of orbs interrupted them.

"I thought I might find you here." Said the wise voice of Oliver.

"Hi to you too," Chris said as he pulled out of the hug. "What's up?" his brows furrowed at the look on Oliver's face.

"We have little bit of a problem. I'm surprised at you Chris. I'm surprised that you didn't see this coming." Oliver frowned.

"FYI, I'm only new to my powers and I can only get visions if I touch stuff at random." Chris argued.

"Okay, sweetie, calm down. Oliver didn't know," Billie turned to Oliver. "How much trouble are we talking?"

"I have told not to say much but an innocent is in danger." Oliver's eyes turned to Chris before they returned to the trio and Billie as a whole. "One more thing, Chris, this person who is threatening the lives of innocents is someone your dark future self knew very well. Do not make the same mistakes your dark future self made."

Chris frowned at the Whiteligher's riddle. What the hell was that meant to be mean? The middle Halliwell then stepped back so that he was standing in-between Wyatt and Melinda. With a nod from Billie, he then orbed out to find the innocent that was in danger.

* * *

_NEXT TIME: __Melinda founds out why her vision blurred, Chris meets a certain Phoenix witch and Wyatt learns a thing or two about Chris' 'dark side'._

_To be Continued...  
_


	3. Flight of the Phoenix

**A/N:**_Hey readers! This chapter has been on my mind for a while and just wanted to get it written and posted up. I wanted it to be longer but unfortunately this was all I could come up with. I started the chapter and the USB flashdrive that I had all my information for this story on corrupted so I had to start the chapter from scratch which didn't take me long to do. I'm really happy with how this story is going so far but I would really like some more reviews. I didn't get any on the last chapter. Please tell me what you think and what you would like to read about in this story. The more feedback I get the better this story will be for you and for me.__ The songs for this chapter are:  
_

_Supermassive Black Hole - Muse  
_

_Assassin - Muse_

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

**Flight of the Phoenix**

* * *

Chris orbed to a side alley to find the innocent Oliver had spoken about cowering in fear. Curiously going over to the man, Chris crouched down to the man, who laid sprawled on his side.

"W-who are you?" the man stammered.

"My name's Chris. I'm here to help you." Chris said gently as he scanned around for the assailant.

"H-how did you know I was here?" the man asked.

"I know what you are. I'm a witch too. Well, half witch anyway."

"You're half Whitelighter aren't you?" the man asked diligently.

"Yes, hold on." Chris said as the sound of Wyatt and Melinda's orbs reached his ears.

"Who's that?" the cowering man asked.

"Don't worry," said Chris. "It's just my brother and sister. Mel and Wyatt over here!" Chris stayed on alert until the sound of Melinda and Wyatt's shuffling feet stopped next to him. Melinda crouched down next to him.

"What happened?" Melinda asked Chris.

"She want me dead." The man said, dazed.

"Who wants-" Melinda started to say but was cut off by the sound of heavy heels clicking along the ground. The Halliwell siblings looked up to see a woman a bit older then Wyatt walking towards them holding what appeared to be an Athame. She was dressed in what appeared to be black leather with black leather high-heeled boots to match. Her hair was also raven black and rolled straight down her back.

"You can't hide from me," the woman sneered at the man who was now sitting up. Chris and Melinda got to their feet and formed a human barrier with Wyatt between the cowering man and the leather dressed woman. "What's this? Super witches." The woman sneered at the siblings. She looked them up and down before her eyes briefly settled on Chris. Her eyes then stared at the small space in-between Melinda and Wyatt's heads where she knew her to-be victim was hiding.

The siblings tensed. Melinda raised her hands to make the woman freeze but it didn't work.

"Ah, why isn't it working?" she panicked, her eyes going from her hands to the woman.

Without a second thought, Chris lunged at the woman. They then disappeared into a cloud of orbs.

Melinda and Wyatt stumbled forward before they exchanged looks of panic.

* * *

Chris and the assassin landed with a thud on the floor of the Manor attic. The assassin's Athame fell out of the woman's reach and behind a rickety old chair.

"Crystals!" Chris cried with a sweep of his hand. Before the assassin had time to shimmer out, she found herself encaged by the crystals.

"Let me out!" the woman cried as she reached for the bars only to be zapped.

"No, not until you tell me who are and why you wanted to kill that man in the alleyway." Chris said crossing his arms across his chest.

"I don't have to explain anything to you." The woman hissed.

"Ah, actually you do, you see, I can make your death extremely painful. Like you saw in the alleyway, my sister has the ability to make people freeze and to blow up so I would suggest you tell me everything that you know." Chris said in a low yet menacing voice.

"Your sister? Ha! She's weak. It's obvious she's the youngest. Is she not?"

"Hey! Don't you ever talk about my sister like that." Chris hissed.

"Why shouldn't I? I am after all an enemy of yours." The woman sneered.

It was at that moment that orbs sounded and Wyatt and Melinda appeared.

"What the hell were you thinking, Chris?" Wyatt asked, trying not to lose his cool with his younger brother. "You charged at the assassin while she was still armed with an Athame. What would have happened if she had of got you and killed you?"

"Uh, Wyatt?" Melinda said, her eyes on the assassin's exposed wrist.

"You are by far-"

"Wyatt Matthew Halliwell!" Melinda cried causing her brothers to turn to her. Somewhat satisfied with the response, Melinda pointed to the assassin's wrist. It appeared to have a red tattoo that she had never seen before.

Wyatt was quick to flick through the Book of Shadows. Chris however, was still pressed to ask the assassin questions until she caved in which he knew was going to be no easy task.

"I'm going to ask you again, who and what are you?" Chris demanded of the woman as he paced in front of the crystal cage.

"I'm not going to tell you anything, _Halliwell_." The woman said wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Found it!" Wyatt announced.

"Phoenix witches," Melinda said over his shoulder._ "Descended from the Witch Trails with vengeance in their hearts, the Phoenix are a family of assassin witches who are very elite, very powerful and who are born with the distinctive birthmark of the Phoenix, symbolising their rise from the Salem ashes. They have no allegiances other than to their own vengeance and they will seek out and kill any bounty they're hired to hunt down._ How insightful."

"So that mark isn't a tattoo on your wrist." Chris said, his emerald eyes shining with intrigue.

"You got me," the womansaid throwing up an arm in mock defeat. "I'm a Phoenix. Satisfied?"

"Not quite," Chris said. "Wyatt." Wyatt stepped to his brother's side and formed a fist. The woman started to choke. It was a minute before the witch started to gasp for breath.

"Alright, I'll talk!"

"Much better, see how easy it is?" Chris said cocking his head to the side. He signaled at Wyatt to release her. She then crippled to the ground.

"Go for it." Melinda said with a tone that indicated that she neither liked nor disliked her brothers' way of getting the witch to talk.

"My name is Bianca. I was sent out to hit on one Romulus Crone, a witch who has doubled crossed me."

"So you were told to put a hit out on him. Un-freaking-believable." Chris groaned.

"In a matter of speaking, yes." Bianca said, clearing unimpressed by Chris. "What are you three then? Since you have a Book of Shadows, it's clear to me that you three are witches and judging by his display," Bianca pointed at Chris before continuing. "You're Whitelighters. So you're what? Whitelighter-witches?"

"We don't have to explain ourselves to you." Wyatt said as he tried to usher Melinda out of the room.

With his brother's back turned, Chris waved his hand and the crystal cage dissolved. Bianca looked around.

"You're letting me go?" she asked.

"If I _ever _catch you out targeting innocents in this city again, I along with my brother and sister, will vanquish you. Clear?" Bianca nodded and shimmered out.

A second later, Melinda and Wyatt turned around from their quarrelling and saw that Bianca was gone.

"Where's Bianca?" Wyatt said slowly as he re-entered the room. Sudden realisation hit him. "Chris, please don't tell me you let him go." Chris could only squirm under his brother's gaze. "Chris, you are such an idiot."

"I think it was more then that," Melinda quipped.

"How do you figure?" Wyatt asked.

"Well, it's obvious to me that Chris has taken a real liking to our first enemy." Melinda gave Chris a sly smile, which he returned with a frown.

"You like her?" Wyatt said, eyeing his brother as if he had fleas. He watched as Chris continued to become uncomfortable.

"Alright! Yes, I admire her rebellious spirit. There happy?" the second oldest Halliwell child exclaimed.

Wyatt and Melinda exchanged looks and silently decided to tease their brother more. "You know Mel," Wyatt said teasingly to Melinda who grinned back at him. "I think there could be more to this 'Chris loves Bianca' thing, don't you?"

"Oh yes big brother, I quite agree with you on that one." Melinda nodded.

Chris scoffed and rolled his eyes in disgust before he headed for the door. Melinda and Wyatt were quite proud of their attempts to make Chris squirm. They grinned evilly as they followed him out the door of the attic and down the stairs to the kitchen where they found Billie and Oliver talking.

"Ah, there are our conquering heroes." Billie smiled.

"Aunt Billie, just don't." Chris said as he slumped down in a chair at the table.

"Honey, I was kidding." Billie said. She had wanted to say something else but decided against it when she saw Chris' face.

"He's got it bad." Wyatt said. Billie immediately understood.

"Chris, do you wanna talk about it?" Oliver asked gently.

"If Wyatt gets out of here." Chris sulked. Wyatt rolled his eyes and orbed to his room. Melinda, who had been listening to the whole thing, had placed herself at the other end of the table so that she didn't get in the way.

"Okay, kid, spill it." Billie said as she sat down beside Melinda.

"So we did what you told us to, Oliver but it was weird." Chris said attempting to find the right word to sum up the situation he had found himself in.

"How so?" Oliver asked.

"Well, it turns out that the witch you sent us out to protect was a target to the Phoenix elite."

Billie and Oliver exchanged looks of concern. "The Phoenix elite?" Billie questioned.

Chris could only nod. "They are a family of assassin witches so to speak."

"Right," said Billie. "And you're crushing on this one that you captured-"

"And let go." Melinda cut in.

"You what?" Oliver cried. "You let her go? Chris, do you know letting the enemy go not only makes _you _look bad but _me_ too?"

"Why would it make you look bad?" Melinda asked.

Oliver rounded on her. "Because I was one that gave you this assignment. Unlike the saving the world antics that you might be use to when your mother and aunts were charmed, this time it is slightly different."

"How?" Billie asked.

"Because the Elders had the prophecies of the Charmed children erased but when demons started to surface, they allowed Melinda and her brothers to become charmed."

"So they went back on their word." Billie said with a nod.

"Not exactly," said Melinda. Billie turned to look at her. "Aunt Paige told us that if demons were to resurface then either Prue and her sisters or my brothers and I would become charmed. Paige's kids were already out of the running as H.J. is mortal and adopted not that it matters."

"She's right," Chris said. This is a fight that we have been foreseen to take on. No one else's and it is my decision on how I live my life." With that, Chris orbed out leaving a confused Oliver, Melinda and Billie in his wake.

* * *

Bianca shimmered home and was greeted by her mother who pulled her in a tight hug. The young assassin was quick to pull out of her mother's arms as she saw that compassion was a sign of weakness.

"How did your first hunt go?" her mother, Lynn asked.

"It was…interesting." Bianca said, turning her back to her mother.

"How so?" Lynn asked.

"My bounty was saved." Bianca snarled.

"Saved? By who?"

Bianca turned back around so that she could see her mother's expression. "The Charmed Ones." She said in utter disgust.

"The Charmed Ones?" asked Lynn in surprise. "But they gave up their fight after the battle with the Ultimate Power."

"Not _those _Charmed Ones, mother," Bianca snapped impatiently. Her mother could be really naïve at times. "The next generation. The eldest sister's two sons and daughter."

"The eldest of the children." Bianca heard her mother murmur.

"There's more." Bianca said.

"Tell me child." Lynn urged eagerly.

"I was captured and later released. The youngest of the Charmed brothers let me go. I think his name was Chris." Bianca told her mother shakily. She had no idea on how her mother was going to react to this news.

"This Halliwell, Chris, why did he let you go?"

"I don't know." Bianca admitted. Her voice was heavy with regret. There had to be some reason why Chris had let her go.

"Let him go, Bianca. The Charmed Ones are weak. They have crossed our path before and we will not allow that to happen again as it did in the future that was changed." Lynn said. She turned and walked out of the room leaving Bianca to her own devices.

Unsure of how to take her mother's advice, Bianca stomped up to her room and allowed the door to swing shut with a long bang against the frame. She then threw herself on to her bed and pondered over why the middle Halliwell had allowed her to live.

* * *

NEXT TIME: _Chris runs into Bianca while out and about, the siblings say goodbye to Billie and and old favourite returns!_

_To Be Continued..._


	4. The Run-In

**A/N:**_Hey Charmed fans! Here's chapter 4. I've had it finished for a few days now but I haven't had a chance to edit it and put it up due to the fact that I've just gone back to Uni and things are really starting to pick up pace again. I hope to have the next chapter up as soon as I possibly can. Here are the songs I used for this chapter:_

_**Defying Gravity - Wicked**_

_**Don't Stop Me - Wynter Gordon**_

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

**The Run-In**

* * *

"We're going to miss you so much!" Melinda said as she hugged Billie goodbye. They were standing in the living room of the Manor. Billie's bags were scattered around her feet.

"I'm gonna miss you guys too. It's a shame that I didn't get to see your mom or your aunts while I was here." Billie said as she pulled out of Melinda's hug.

"Yeah, it is. Hey, tell us when the baby's born and we will pay you a-" Wyatt said only to have Chris elbow him in the ribs. "What?" Chris threw him a look that read 'shut up or I'll make you' before they both received disgusted looks from Melinda.

"Like Wyatt was trying to say, make sure you give us a call or email when you have the baby." Melinda said with a tight smile.

"I will and Chris," Billie turned to the middle Halliwell. "Don't worry about Bianca. She's an assassin by blood. You can't stop her from doing what she was born to do. Take it from someone who knows." Chris nodded, knowing that she was right. It was beyond his control and he wasn't likely to see her again but then again, Phoenix witches were very sneaky.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Chris said as he stepped forward to hug Billie. Wyatt had already given Billie a hug goodbye.

"Good, now I think I should be going." Billie looked upon the faces of the new Charmed Ones to see their faces filled with sorrow at seeing her go. She gave them a reassuring smile that they would see her again before orbs surrounded her and just like that she disappeared back to her home and to her husband.

* * *

An hour after he and his siblings had orbed Billie home, Chris slipped out of the Manor and down the street. He needed to clear his head after what Billie had told him. How could he simply forget Bianca? She had seemed so innocent in that cage when he had imprisoned her, yet now that he thought about it, the way he had instructed Wyatt to use his power of strangulation on her was a bit harsh.

Being as lost in his thoughts as he was, he wasn't paying attention to where he was looking before he found himself on the ground.

"I am so sorry," said the figure he had bumped into.

"No, it was my…fault," Chris said as he looked up. "Bianca?"

"Chris? Hi." Bianca said in surprise. Chris helped her pick up the things she had dropped.

"You live around here?" Chris asked as he handed her the last of her things.

"No, I live in an apartment with my mother a couple of miles away. I was on the way home." Bianca told him.

"Ah okay. I thought you would have shimmered home." Chris was amazed that Bianca hadn't used magic to get home.

"My mom is very sensitive to us using magic for our own gain. I'm sure your mother is too seeing as she's a Charmed One." Bianca explained. Chris was surprised that he didn't hear any vengefulness in her voice. She sounded… normal almost.

"Yeah, you could say that." Chris said with a nod. "My aunts are the same."

"I suppose being charmed has its benefits." There was silence between the two for a long moment before Chris finally spoke.

"Hey would you like to come inside? Get to know my brother and sister better?" Bianca was touched by his offer. She had come to realise that maybe befriending the Charmed Ones was a good idea. She hadn't asked to be born a Phoenix. Her mother's riddle about having met the previous Charmed Ones before made no sense. What had happened and how had this happened? Was it a future that her mother couldn't talk about? Was it some kind of dark future thing? She would have loved to find out.

"I shouldn't. Mom will be wanting this stuff home."

"Do you always listen to your mother?" Chris said, a sly smile crossing his face. Bianca returned the smile. Bianca allowed Chris to take her things and she watched as they disappeared in a swirl of white orbs. "It's a Whitelighter thing." Chris told her. "Come on." Chris turned back the way he had come and Bianca followed. It wasn't long until they reached the front door and entered the Manor.

Inside, the place was quiet. Chris knew that Wyatt and Melinda were off doing their own separate things in different places of the house.

Bianca looked around in amazement. The house was huge for just three people to live in. It could have housed up to six people. The staircase was lined with family photos from Grams all the way down to a group photo of Chris with his brother, sister and shipment of cousins. Bianca noticed that all of Chris' cousins were female except for a lone male who looked nothing like his twin sisters who looked alike and was sitting with Melinda in the photo. Chris noticed this and quickly explained.

"The boy in the photo is Henry Junior. He's my Aunt Paige and Uncle Henry's adoptive son. We Halliwells call him H.J. Come on let me show you something. Of course we don't consider him adopted." Chris pulled Bianca up the stairs towards the attic where the Book of Shadows was. Bianca knew all about the Book of Shadows, as it was the polar opposite to her family's Grimoire, which was also the book that many demons owned, but the Phoenix elite was a neutral force and could be hired by either the forces of good or the forces of evil to hunt the bounties that they were assigned.

Entering the attic, Chris walked across the room to where the pedestal sat with the Book of Shadows closed. It hadn't been used for the last couple of days as the demons weren't making themselves known but no one questioned it.

Bianca stepped hesitantly over to where Chris was standing. She watched as Chris waved his hand over the book and it flipped open to the Phoenix page that had been added by some unknown ancestor.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bianca asked in awe.

"Yep. It's the page on your family." Chris said tapping his fingers on the page. Bianca skimmed through the information on the pages that had been assigned to her family history and found that everything was correct except she felt something was missing.

"Something's missing on this page." She said, her dark eyes shining with intrigue.

"What could be missing?" Chris asked turning his head to look at her.

"Whoever wrote this entry forgot to add that we Phoenix witches are neutral forces." She said as a faint smile crossed her face.

Chris smiled and summoned a pen and added the extra information to the page. Once he was done, he looked up, pleased with his handiwork. He had to admit that the entry looked a little strange with two different sets of handwriting but he shrugged it off and closed the book.

"I just realised something," he said after a long moment of comfortable silence.

"What?" Bianca asked.

"From the stories my mom and aunts use to tell me, whenever a demon tried to nab the Book of Shadows, it would somehow sense it and protect itself. I know it sounds weird coming from me but I haven't witnessed it first hand but Wyatt has. So with you standing in front of it, the Book must sense that you're good." Chris turned to smile at Bianca who blushed with embarrassment but she was quick to recover.

"Yeah, must have been lucky." Bianca murmured. She hadn't realised that she had stepped closer to Chris with a look of admiration spread across her face. He was looking at her in the same way. She didn't back away as he leaned closer to her, his hand brushing her hair back from her face. She watched with eager eyes as Chris leaned closer to her, his free hand gently lifting her head up. What happened next made her feel weightless as if time had stopped around her. Chris' lips brushed against hers but she didn't pull away. She pulled herself closer to him as she allowed the kiss to continue.

As the kiss continued, neither she nor Chris realised that Melinda was standing frozen in the doorway of the attic. Her green-brown eyes widen in shock. She orbed to where Wyatt had hidden himself away to do whatever it was he was doing. It was a relief to Melinda that she had the ability to quietly orb.

She found her oldest brother in a hidden corner of the basement at an old desk with a pile of what looked like exam papers waiting to be marked.

"Wyatt!" Melinda said, as she appeared in the dank cramped space that her brother had hidden himself and his work.

"Not now Mel. I'm a little busy here as you can probably already see." Wyatt said not looking up from his marking.

"It's really important!" Melinda insisted. She knew Wyatt could hear the urgency in her voice.

"Is it more important then marking these exam papers?" he asked, still not looking up from his work.

"Just come on!" Melinda flickered a finger and the fading desk light Wyatt had been working under switched off. She pulled Wyatt to his feet and together they orbed to the staircase that lead to the attic.

"Hey!" He cried.

Once on the stairs, Wyatt almost tripped but thankfully Melinda steadied him. She pressed a finger to her lips and gestured for Wyatt to follow her. Together, they tiptoed up the stairs and stopped as they reached the last few steps before the landing. Melinda gestured for Wyatt to go ahead and silently followed him the last few steps before she almost bumped into him. She straightened up and found that Wyatt had stopped dead in the doorway of the attic. Peering over his shoulder, she could see that Chris and Bianca were still locked in their kiss.

Wyatt's jaw dropped at the sight before him. Gathering his wits, he watched for a second before he did the one thing that he had vowed long ago to never do. "Christopher Perry Halliwell!"

Chris and Bianca were quick to jump apart at the sound of Wyatt's booming voice. Chris' eyes steered to Melinda who stood motionless behind Wyatt. Chris then watched as Wyatt orbed out leaving Melinda still rooted to the spot.

Seeing the look of death that Chris was about to serve her, Melinda was quick to orb out.

Chris turned back to Bianca. "I'm so sorry about this." He whispered.

"I understand just how close you are to Wyatt and Melinda. I wish I had what you have. Go. Make them understand what they just saw." Bianca whispered in return. Chris nodded before kissing her one last time. He turned on his heel and headed out of the attic. Bianca watched him, her emotions everywhere. As the sound of Chris' footsteps faded down the stairs, she shimmered out and disappeared.

* * *

"How could you be so stupid?" Wyatt hissed. He, Melinda and Chris were standing in the middle of the living room. Melinda stood with her arms crossed at Wyatt's side. Chris' face was tomato red and looked like he was about to blow a gasket if he had to retaliate another argument from Wyatt.

"I don't have to answer to you, Wyatt." Chris spat.

"Actually you do. I'm the oldest and you will do as I say!"

"In case you've forgotten, mom and dad left _me _in charge." Chris yelled.

"That's not the point. First you let the Phoenix go then you go around kissing her? What game are you playing here? You're a Charmed One. Act like it."

"The Phoenix's name is Bianca and I'm not playing games."

Wyatt was about to reply when the doorbell rang.

"Were you expecting anyone?" Chris asked his eyes aimed train in the direction of the front door.

"No." Wyatt said, his eyes in the same direction as Chris'. "Were you?" Chris shook his head.

Melinda groaned and walked out of the room. She walked to the door and opened it to reveal their grandfather, Victor. He hadn't changed a bit over all the years that they had known him though his hair had gone a lighter shade of grey.

"Hi honey." Victor said with a smile.

"Hi Grandpa." Melinda cried as Victor stepped over the threshold and into the house. Footsteps sounded prompting Victor and Melinda to look up. Wyatt was standing in the doorway to the living room.

Upon the sight of his grandfather, Wyatt's face softened. He had spent a lot of time with Victor over the years. Whenever his mother and aunts were fighting demons or Piper needed quality time with her sisters or Leo, the boys and Melinda were always sent to Victor. "Hey Gramps."

"Hey Wyatt. " Victor greeted.

"Can you talk to your grandson please?" Wyatt said in a frustrated manner before he headed back into the living room.

Victor and Melinda looked at each other before breaking free of their hug and walking into the living room where they found Chris and Wyatt staring each other down as if they were poised to kill.

"Hi Gramps." Chris said looking up with a smile. It immediately faded when he caught sight of Melinda at their grandfather's side.

"Hey Chris." Victor said as he and Melinda sat down next to Wyatt.

"What are you doing here?" Chris asked, his head bowed, his eyes on the ground.

"I got a call from Piper and Leo wanting me to check on you kids and it seems like I came just in time. Wyatt just asked me to talk to you, so spill it and don't say that it's nothing. I know you too well." Victor said sternly. Chris scoffed.

Victor and Chris had a very close relationship and Victor could always tell when something wasn't quite right. He was making up for all the time he had missed out on when he had left Prue, Piper and Phoebe to be raised by their grandmother not long after Patty had been killed by the water demon. He had always loved his daughters and had quickly accepted Paige has his own daughter even though she was a product of Patty's affair with her Whitelighter, Sam. He even thought of Paige's children as his own grandchildren. Paige had told her children to call Victor 'Gramps' and Sam 'Grandpa' which didn't bother Victor one bit. He was over being resentful for everything that had happened with Patty.

Chris sighed and started to launch into his tale. "So I let her go and I ran into her earlier and we kinda… kissed in the attic." Chris cringed as he waited for his grandfather to reply. When Victor didn't say anything, Chris looked up to find that Victor's face was unreadable. "At least say something!" he begged.

"In the attic? Hold on, I'm trying to process everything. So this woman is a few years older then you, has the powers of a demon but is a neutral force but is from a family of Phoenix witches, whatever they are?" Victor asked, trying to clarify what Chris had told him.

"You guessed right, Grandpa." Chris said grimly.

"Well, I would say go for it." Wyatt and Melinda looked at Victor in surprise. Chris looked up from staring at the floor.

"What? You're allowing Chris to go through with this?" Melinda exclaimed.

"Why not? Your mother married a Whitelighter and looked what happened. Three half-Whitelighter kids. Phoebe married a Cupid. Three half-Cupid daughters came from that union and Paige married a mortal and ended up with a set of magical half-Whitelighter twins and an adopted mortal son." Victor said trying to reassure his granddaughter.

"What about the Elders? Remember, they gave mom and dad hell. Why wouldn't they give Chris and Bianca hell as well?" Wyatt asked.

"I think after everything that this family has been through over the years, I think the Elders would be a little more considerate. Your grandmother's death for one, which left me to fight with your great-grandmother over how to raise your mother, Prue and Phoebe then me leaving and Prue resenting me for most of her life. Another factor would be the Elders, like you said Wyatt, giving your parents a hard time and not letting them be together, Prue's death and the discovery of Paige being their half-sister. Everything Phoebe went through with Cole was another thing this family went through but that was before you kids were born, so I don't think that counts."

"The whole thing with the discovery of Aunt Paige was before we were born as well but it doesn't really matter now. That's all in the past." Melinda said.

"Fair enough," Victor nodded. "Look, if you really like this girl, Chris, you have my support but don't worry about these two. I wasn't so supportive of your mother's relationship with your father after I found out he was a Whitelighter. After everything that I went through with your grandmother and her affair with Sam, I didn't think I could trust Whitelighters again but I came to realise that your mother loved your father and he wasn't about to cheat on her like your grandmother did and I was able to look past the fact that my son-in-law was a Whitelighter. Your father and I are good terms now, not great but good. See where I'm coming from, Chris?" Victor watched his grandson's face change as he considered his opinions.

"You know what Grandpa? You're right. I shouldn't have to listen to Mel and Wyatt or the Elders. I'm old enough to make my own decisions." With a smile sliding across his face, Chris disappeared in a swirl of orbs.

"Chris, you get your ass back here right now! Do you hear me?" Melinda said jumping up off the sofa. "Chris!"

"Honey, let him go. He's right. He is old enough to make his own decisions." Victor said calmly. Melinda sunk back down next to Wyatt and buried her head in her hands.

* * *

Bianca sat cross-legged on her bed studying her family's grimoire. Like she had told Chris, the Phoenix grimoire was the opposite of a Book of Shadows. She jumped when the sound of orbs entered her range of hearing. She was surprised to see Chris standing at the foot of her bed.

"Chris," she said in obvious surprise as she climbed off her bed. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to see you, why else would I be here?" Chris said, taking a step towards her.

"Chris, we can't do this. Not behind your brother and sister's backs. Think about what my mother will say if she ever found out about what happened." Bianca struggled to keep her breathing steady. As much as she liked Chris, despite having just met him and him being a new Charmed One, she knew that anything serious shouldn't be happening between them.

"Wyatt and Mel are the least of my troubles." Chris said taking another step forward.

"What about my mother and the fact that I'm five years older then you? You're still just a kid. Besides, my mother can sense me." Bianca said. Truthfully, she didn't care about the half-decade gap between them but she knew that it was bound to be brought up if anyone ever found out.

"Age shouldn't be a factor between us," said Chris. "Look at my parents. My dad was born before World War II and died in the forties. He was made a Whitelighter because if his good efforts to help people. He met and fell in love with my mother. Simple but at the same time complicated. Couldn't you just put a cloaking spell on yourself? You are a witch after all."

"It's not quite as simple as that. I might be a witch but my kind doesn't cast those types of spells. The Elders will be a problem as well."

"I can teach you how to cast one of these spells. The Elders will understand. They might have messed up with my parents but we are not them. They allowed my Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Coop to be together."

"Yes, but a witch and a Cupid, there are no real complications." Bianca hadn't noticed that Chris was now standing right in front of her. She didn't flinch when he reached out to stroke her cheek.

"Don't worry. My family knows a few Whitelighters who understand all this. Do you want me to call them?"

"No! I mean, no. It's fine," Bianca sighed. "Is this really what you want?"

Chris nodded. "What about you?"

Bianca had to blink back tears as she practically dove into Chris' arms. "More then anything." Chris hugged her tightly unable to contain his smile.

After a long moment, Bianca lifted her head from Chris' shoulder and smiled.

"What?" he asked.

"We can make this work I know we can. If your parents were able to then so can we. But," she paused. "We have to keep it a secret from your family and of course, mine. I can't even imagine what they would say." Bianca shuddered at the thought of their now secret relationship being discovered.

"Oh, I think I can. I can just see my sister's face turning the brightest shade of red that you have ever seen." Chris smiled at Bianca who couldn't help but smile back.

"This is serious." Bianca said, her voice displaying just how desperate she felt.

"Alright, alright. We'll keep it to ourselves but they will find out sooner or later." Chris said with a sigh. Bianca smiled again.

"Good. Now, get home before you're discovered missing." Bianca gave Chris a playful shove before reaching up to kiss him. Chris smiled before he orbed out leaving Bianca still feeling warm from his embrace.

She flopped back onto her bed and curled up in a ball with a smile etched across her face.

* * *

Chris returned to his room feeling happier then he had when he had left the house an hour before. Lying on his bed, he smiled like he had never smiled before. He didn't notice Victor walking past his room to summon him for dinner.

"Why are you so happy?" Victor asked as he stood in the doorway of Chris' room. Chris snapped out of his happy daydream.

"No reason," Chris grunted as he sat up. Looking over at his grandfather, Chris could see that Victor had that look on his face; a look that told him never to lie to him. The middle Halliwell sighed. "I've entered a… somewhat forbidden relationship with Bianca."

"Bianca? As in the Phoenix assassin that we were talking about earlier?" Chris nodded. "And what do Mel and Wyatt think about this?" Chris bowed his head.

"They have no idea and I don't want them too. They are so…" Chris trailed off.

"Judgmental? Overprotective?" Victor continued for him. Chris sighed heavily as he once again nodded.

"If they knew about this then, I don't know, they'll tell mom and dad and let them be the judge of everything that concerns me. They have already expressed how they feel about the kiss that happened earlier and…" Chris allowed himself to trail off again. As much as he wanted Wyatt and Melinda to accept his now full steam ahead relationship with Bianca, he knew he couldn't force them to accept her. He felt like his Aunt Phoebe when she had entered the danger zone and entered a relationship with the half-demon half-human Cole Turner.

Phoebe had married him and had ended up pregnant with his son but the Seer who believed that the child wasn't actually Cole and Phoebe's stole the child from her womb. It was a major blow to Phoebe to lose her first child to some woman who would only use the child for evil. If the child hadn't been stolen from Phoebe's womb and born, it would have been the first and possibly only Demon-witch child in the world and he would have been more powerful then Wyatt.

Chris knew the story only too well as it was one of the stories Phoebe refused to talk about especially in front of her daughters and Coop.

"I just don't wanna turn out like Aunt Phoebe. Married three times with one marriage that ended in divorce and the second that lasted not even a week and ended in an annulment."

"Pal, you are not going to turn out like Phoebe or your mother," Victor said trying his best to reassure him. "If anything, I think your relationship with Bianca might turn out better then your mother's relationship with your father."

"You really think so?" Chris asked in wonderment.

"Mmm-hmm. If you like this girl go for it. Don't let your brother and sister get in your way. And hey, if I had the chance to fight for your grandmother I would have but you know how tough the Halliwell women are, especially your mother and her sisters. If you knew your Aunt Prue you would understand exactly what I mean." Victor sighed uncomfortably at the mention of his late eldest daughter.

Before Shax had killed Prue, the eldest Charmed One and Victor had repaired their broken and strained relationship. But it was the last time Victor had seen Prue alive and the next him he saw her, she was in a wooden coffin ready to be buried. It had shattered Victor like nothing else could. He had blamed himself for her death and knew he should have spent more time with her and her sisters. He knew he had made massive mistakes in the past but he had made up for it with his grandchildren.

"Gramps?" Victor looked up to see Chris looking at him, like a small child wanting attention from a parent. "Thanks."

Victor smiled and lightly punched Chris in the shoulder. The pair sat in silence for a moment before there was a knock on the door. They turned to see Wyatt standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"Mel says dinner's ready."

* * *

Dinner started like it always did: in total silence. Victor gingerly picked at his food as he watched his three oldest grandchildren. He watched as menacing looks were thrown backward and forward across the table. He could practically read what the expressions were meant to say. After five minutes of silence, he decided to take a massive jump and discover why there was so much tension.

"Great cooking Mel. Your mom taught you well." Victor said trying to sound casual.

"Thanks Gramps. I'm glad _someone _likes my cooking." Melinda said, her eyes straying to Chris who was trying to ignore her.

From his place next to Melinda, Wyatt's eyes darted between his brother and sister. He had never seen Melinda so pissed off before. Usually, she kept her thoughts and feelings to herself but tonight was clearly not one of those nights. He had his own thoughts on the whole Bianca issue but he knew from all his time with Paige at Magic School that being pissed off at someone never accomplished anything. He had dealt with so many students who had gotten into fights with others to understand the situation that was currently playing out in front of him. Across the table, Victor was trying to get his attention. With a small gesture of Victor's head in the direction of Chris, Wyatt knew that he had to stop the tension from increasing.

"How are you coping from your first kiss?" Wyatt asked casually.

"Oh come on!" Chris said getting up out of his chair.

"Chris, sit down." Victor said calmly.

"No, I won't. These two have been against me since they caught me and Bianca locked in that kiss."

"Bro, we're not against you." Wyatt said trying to keep his brother calm.

"I am." Melinda said still chewing.

"Mel." Wyatt muttered. Melinda closed her mouth. Wyatt then turned back to Chris. "Chris, I know what you're going through, thinking that everyone is against you but we're not. We're your family and we care about you even though you might not see it that way."

Chris clenched his jaw.

"Your brother's right, Chris," Victor said. "Now please sit down and I think you should tell them."

"Tell us what?" Wyatt asked.

Chris sighed as he sat back down. "You're right Gramps. I'm now seeing Bianca. We agreed that you two shouldn't know because of the way you would react and we were right. I'm going to have tell her that there has been a change in plans regarding our original agreement. But I need you both to do something for me."

"What? Name your price." Melinda said lacing her fingers together, suddenly interested.

"The rest of the family can't know about this, at least not yet."

"Why?" Victor asked.

"Because, someone is bound to go blabbing to mom and dad and then mom will call down the Elders and they will give their verdict like they did with mom and dad and I can almost see that the result won't be good." As he said this, Chris' eyes darted between Wyatt and Melinda. He knew that Melinda would forgive him sometime but at the moment, all he cared about was his own happiness. When Wyatt didn't say anything more, Chris relaxed. Wyatt's opinion mattered to him almost as much as Melinda's did.

"Okay," Wyatt said at last. "You can tell the rest of the family, including mom and dad when you're ready, right now though, can we just have a normal family dinner with no more disputes?"

Chris relaxed more at his brother's request. There was nothing worse then tension. Chris remembered the story that Phoebe had told him about the time when Prue was still alive and that the sisters had argued so much with Piper that it caused the triquetra on the front of the Book of Shadows to separate. That was something that Chris never wanted to happen between him and his siblings.

As the night continued, Chris found himself more comfortable then he had been all evening. After saying goodnight to everyone, he ventured back to his room to find Bianca sitting cross-legged on his bed.

"What're you doing here?" Chris asked his eyes going widen. He flicked his hand and his bedroom door slammed shut and locked.

"I had to thank you for comforting me earlier." Bianca smiled as Chris sat down beside her.

"You shouldn't be here. What if Wyatt or Melinda walked passed the room? Just to let you know my grandfather's here for a visit."

"What? Isn't he mortal?" Chris eyed her suspiciously. "Phoenixes need to know personal information on almost everyone in the magical world. Your mother and aunts included." Bianca explained. When Chris didn't answer, Bianca knew something was wrong. "What? What's wrong?"

"I had to tell my brother and sister about us." Chris didn't need to look up to know that Bianca's face had turned red.

"Why?" she asked, her voice suddenly sounding cold.

"I couldn't live with the guilt of them not knowing. You have no idea how hard it is to be charmed. Demons are continuously after you. You face death on a regular basis." Bianca leaned forward to catch Chris in a kiss.

The kiss continued for a moment before Chris turned his head away. "We shouldn't be doing this, especially with my family around. My brother seems to have come around but I'm not too sure about my sister." Chris told her. Bianca knew exactly what he was feeling. She knew that her mother should never know about her relationship with a new Charmed One.

"I understand exactly how you feel. I do. At least you have family that you can trust. I don't. The only person I have is my mother who will freak if she finds out about us." Bianca bowed her head with a sigh.

For a long moment, there was nothing but overwhelming silence. Bianca listened to the shuffling footsteps of Chris' family as they went up and down the hallway.

"Go. Before someone catches you in here." Chris told her suddenly. He leaned in to kiss her before she shimmered out. He flopped back onto his pillows and flickered his wrist in the direction of the door just as Wyatt was about to knock on the door. Chris turned to look at him.

"How did you know it was me?" Wyatt asked from the doorway.

Chris awkwardly shrugged. "I just know you." Wyatt smiled before he entered the room and sat down on the edge of the bed prompting Chris to sit up.

"Look, I just wanted to apologise for earlier. Not just for myself but for Mel as well. We should have been more considerate towards the idea of you having a relationship with someone who is totally not in your league…"

"Wyatt!"

"No, just hear me out." Wyatt said trying to force back a laugh. "I understand all too well how you feel. Remember when I was in 8th Grade and I asked out Rebecca Taylor?"

"Yeah, and she dumped you the next week all because you weren't paying enough attention to her short cheerleading skirt." Chris said with a smile.

"Exactly, but with you the problems are things you can't really avoid. Bianca being older then you for one and of course the biggest factor of all, her being a Phoenix elite assassin and you being the middle next generation Charmed One." Wyatt stated matter-of-factly.

"Wy?" Chris asked. Wyatt turned his head to look his younger brother. "Do you think if my relationship with Bianca lasts, that we'll turn out like mom and dad did?"

"Is that what you're worried about? Having a relationship similar to mom and dad?" Wyatt asked with a chuckle. Chris nodded with guilt. "Oh come here, little brother." Wyatt pulled Chris into a hug. Chris was quick to hug Wyatt back. It was rare for the brothers to share anything. "Your relationship with Bianca won't turn out like mom and dad's did I can assure you."

"How do you know that?" Chris mumbled into his brother's shoulder.

"I'm your brother. I might not be able to see the future like you and Aunt Phoebe but I do know that your relationship with Bianca will last for a long time. You might be the next version of mom without the love triangle." Chris looked at Wyatt blankly prompting his brother to explain. "A year after mom, Aunt Prue and Aunt Phoebe became charmed, they received new neighbors in the form of mortals, Dan and Jenny Gordon. It was also at that time that mom was getting over dad leaving. They weren't married at this time obviously. Anyway, dad returned and Dan and mom were dating so dad and Dan had a competition to see who could win mom's heart and who do you think won?"

"Dad." Chris answered with a smile. Then another thought struck him. "Didn't Dan use dirty tactics to win mom over by revealing that dad died during War World II?"

"Right," Wyatt said with an approving nod. "Just because Mel and I don't look like we approve doesn't mean that we don't care. We do care, really. Just be cautious of Mel. She's not use to having to share you with someone else."

"Do you think she's envious of Bianca?" Chris asked.

"Maybe. I think she's a little put off by her. You did fall in love with the enemy after all." Wyatt said stating the absolute obvious.

"Well duh." Chris teased, a smile crossing his face. Wyatt smiled in the return as he ruffled his brother's hair.

"Okay, I think we've had enough fun for one day. Let's get some sleep, hey?" Wyatt left Chris to his own devices and walked out of the room.

Five minutes later, Chris had showered and changed into a long sleeve t-shirt and track pants before he wandered down the hall to Melinda's room. There he found her asleep with a book resting on her chest. Smirking, he crept into the room and bookmarked the book and sat it on the bedside table. Before switching off the light, he kissed his sister's forehead, saying a silent goodnight to her. Walking back to his room, he climbed under the warm covers and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

_NEXT TIME: With Chris' 19th Birthday fast approaching, Chris decides its time for the rest of his family to meet Bianca. How will the rest of the Halliwell clan cope with the new 'unoffical' member of the family and Melinda learns that there might be more to play when it comes to Bianca's overbearing and overprotective mother, Lynn.  
_

_To be Continued..._


	5. The Birthday from Hell

**A/N: **_Hi readers. I know it has been a while since I have posted anything for this story and I am really very sorry to keep you waiting. Uni has been crazy with assignments and whatnot. This chapter is probably by far the longest chapter I have ever written for a story before. This chapter does contain some coarse language but nothing major. Piper and Leo do make their first proper appearance in this chapter but physically if you get my meaning. So I hope you all enjoy and please don't forget to review._

_The music that was used for this chapter include:_

**Fire – Matthew 'Mdot' Finley**

**Acting Out – Ashley Tisdale**

**Afraid –Vanessa Hudgens**

* * *

**Chapter 5:**

**The Birthday from Hell**

* * *

The next few weeks played out perfectly for Chris and Bianca. Melinda and Wyatt had become extremely supportive of the pair's secret relationship and did whatever they could to help out in terms of their secret dates. While the rest of the Halliwell clan didn't suspect a thing, Lynn, Bianca's mother was becoming even more suspicious as to why her daughter was always so happy.

"You look happy." Lynn said one Saturday morning as she leaned against the doorframe that joined the kitchen with the living room. Bianca had been standing at the sink washing up from breakfast. Even though her daughter had her back to her, Lynn could still tell that there was a smile etched across the younger woman's face.

"Do I, mother?" Bianca asked as she sat a china plate on the dish rack that sat next to the sink.

"Yes, you do, my dear. Whenever you come home you're always smiling." Bianca knew her mother too well. She knew that she was suspicious.

Allowing her smile to slide from her face, Bianca answered her mother coldly. "I am _allowed_ to have my own life, aren't I?"

"On the contrary, my dear daughter," said Lynn, her eyes still on her daughter's back. "This wouldn't have anything to do with that Halliwell you met a few weeks ago, would it?"

Bianca kept her eyes on her task and didn't turn around to acknowledge her mother that she had heard her.

"Well?" Lynn prompted.

"No, I haven't seen him since he and his siblings captured me." Her fellow Phoenix witches had always known Bianca as cold and manipulative but they didn't know that she craved a life outside that of assassinating bounties. All she wanted was to raise a family and make friends that weren't in the same field as she was.

Over the last few weeks, she had befriended Melinda who greatly looked up to her and knew exactly how she felt.

Having been raised with two older brothers, Melinda knew what it was like being looked down upon. Because Melinda was the youngest of Piper and Leo's children, no one expected big of her because she was the youngest and the weakest of the three.

Bianca's gaze snapped her back to her task. Looking down at the dirty dishwater, Bianca realised that there was nothing left to wash up so she pulled the plug from the sink and dried her hands on a nearby dishcloth. She then walked towards the living room door where her mother was still currently standing.

Lynn watched as her daughter stalked towards the stairs. "Where are you going?" she asked turning her head to follow her daughter's stride.

"Where do you think?" Bianca mumbled she proceeded up the stairs. Lynn watched her go, a smirk crossing her face.

* * *

Slamming the door shut to her room, Bianca locked the door and turned up her old fashioned radio before she proceeded to changing her clothes. She changed into a pair of black tights and a tight black tank top. She tied her hair back into a tight ponytail before she slipped on her trainers and shimmered out of the room to Halliwell Manor.

A moment later, Bianca appeared in the entrance hall of the Manor. She considered it her second home considering she spent much of her time here, as it was too dangerous to be out in the open with Chris with her fellow assassins out there watching her every move. She couldn't even be seen with Melinda and Wyatt in the open, which silently caused her great distress. She had finally made real friends even if they were the offspring of Piper Halliwell.

"Chris! Mel! Wyatt! Anyone home?" Bianca called, her voice echoing around her. Orbs sounded and Wyatt appeared a second later causing her to jump.

"Hi Bianca." Wyatt grinned.

"Hey Wyatt." Bianca smiled weakly as she struggled to keep her surprise from her face. She had a good relationship with Wyatt but it wasn't quite as good as her relationship with Melinda.

"If you're looking for Chris, he's at Halliwell's," Bianca looked at him blankly. "Our mother's restaurant." Wyatt clarified.

"Why would Piper name her restaurant 'Halliwell's'?" Bianca asked with a nod of her head.

"Well, it's a long story so here's the cliff notes version: Mom couldn't come up with a name for the place so she settled on our family name." Wyatt shrugged.

"How hard is it to come up with a name for a restaurant?"

"Really hard, especially for mom. She rejected the names 'P4, Aftershock, Cook of Shadows, Mel's Diner, Pie'd Piper, The Brewing Pot' and of course my personal favourite 'Twice-Baked'." Bianca sniggered at Wyatt's exaggeration of his mother's rejected restaurant names. "What? Its not that funny."

"'Cook of Shadows?' What is that? A reference to the _Book_ of Shadows?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Wyatt said smacking his lips.

"So you're sure Chris is at the restaurant?" Bianca asked.

"Pretty sure, yeah." Wyatt said nodding.

"Great thanks." Bianca then shimmered out.

* * *

Chris ducked as one of the waitresses swerved to avoid hitting him in the head with a metal serving tray.

"Sorry Chris!" the waitress called as she made her way to the kitchen. The entire staff at Halliwell's knew all the Halliwell kids from Wyatt all the way down to Phoebe and Coop's youngest daughter, Pandora.

"Chris!" Chris turned to see Bianca walking towards him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"What I can't see my boyfriend at the family restaurant?" Bianca teased. Chris rolled his eyes.

"Not so loud! Let me guess, Wyatt tell you where I was, did he?" Chris asked as he walked over to a booth.

"You guessed it." Bianca said as she slid in the booth on the opposite side of him.

"Isn't it dangerous for you to be seen with us Halliwells?" Chris asked, a smirk crossing his face.

"Do you think I really care?" Bianca asked. Chris was oblivious to the fact of Bianca's silent distress.

"Point taken." Chris scoffed. There was comfortable silence for a long moment before Chris decided to break the silence. "I've been meaning to ask you something for the last week." Bianca could tell he was nervous but waited patiently for him to talk again. "I think its time for you to meet the rest of my family." Bianca looked at him alarmed.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Well yeah, I've thought about it and we have been going out for a few weeks now and I think my birthday is the perfect time to do that." Chris sounded overly confident now.

"It's not like we're getting married. If we were then yeah, I would love to meet your family but…" Bianca couldn't come up with a decent enough argument.

"But what?" Chris retorted.

"What if Phoebe and Paige recognise me from the Dark Future?" Chris was taken aback. This was something he hadn't thought about. "You hadn't thought of that had you?" Chris looked up at her and shook his head.

"I don't think they'll say anything. At least Aunt Paige won't." Chris said trying to sound reassuring.

"And Phoebe?"

"Well," Chris said scratching his chin. "Paige is likely to tell Phoebe to put a sock in it." Chris knew his aunts and there was a 50/50 chance of Paige and Phoebe either accept Bianca or dismissing her because of the thing with the Dark Future where Wyatt had been the supreme lord of evil.

Bianca wasn't sure what to say. It seemed that Chris had everything planned out especially when it came to Paige and Phoebe. The rest of the family wouldn't be a problem seeing as Piper and Leo weren't going to be there due to their vacation but she knew that Melinda and Wyatt would find a way to have them involved. "Well okay then. I would love to come."

Chris smiled. "Thank you. My family is going to love you."

"As much as Mel and Wyatt?"

"As much as Mel and Wyatt."

* * *

The day of Chris' birthday was filled with nothing but excitement. Melinda and Wyatt bolted into Chris' room and jumped on him like they did every year on his birthday. "Happy birthday!" they cried.

"Thanks. Get off me!" Chris said causing Wyatt to shuffle back. Melinda swooped in and kissed her favourite brother on the cheek before she followed Wyatt's lead and shuffled back.

"Presents!" Wyatt said and Chris' presents appeared in orbs around him.

"Guys, you didn't have to." Chris laughed.

"We wanted to. We love you too much." Wyatt smiled. Chris attempted to kick his brother in the leg under the covers but missed. Wyatt leaned forward and handed Chris one of the presents that lie scattered on the bed. Melinda and Wyatt watched with pure anticipation as they watched Chris read the little label on the paper.

"_Happy birthday Chris, love Prue, Parker and Pan." _ Chris looked up from the label to look at his brother and sister.

"Aunt Phoebe had Uncle Coop send them last night. We had to hide them in the basement because we kinda ran out of room in our closets." Wyatt told him. Chris' eyes then turned back to the present in his hands.

Ripping the paper off, Chris looked down in amazement at the stack of books in his hands. _How did they know? _He thought to himself. It wasn't much of a secret to Prue and her sisters that Chris loved to read. They had brought him his own copies of the classics that he continuously borrowed at the downtown library. Chris cycled through the books in his hands. Emma, Pride and Prejudice, the Witches of Eastwick all sat sprawled on the bed in front of him.

"Thank you girls!" he called to the air knowing they were listening. There was the sound the Cupid jingle that told Chris they were saying 'You're welcome.'

"My turn!" Melinda pushed another present in front of Chris who had been stacking the books from Prue and her sisters so that he could push them under his bed.

"One at a time, Melinda." Wyatt laughed. Melinda threw him a dirty look. No one ever called her by her name. Come to think of it, no one ever called her Prudence Melinda or Melinda unless she was in trouble.

Chris gingerly took the small present from his sister and read the label. _"Happy Birthday to my favourite big brother love Mel." _Chris gave Melinda a sympathetic look before ripping the small piece of wrapping paper off to reveal a rectangular box. Taking off the lid, he laughed at the sight of the lucky charm keychain that now sat in the palm of his hand.

"I know you've been eyeing mine so I got you one to prevent you from trying to steal mine." Melinda's tone sounded menacing but it had a playful edge to it.

As Melinda and Wyatt took turns handing out all the presents that the family had sent over, Chris felt like the luckiest guy in the world. He had the most amazing family who loved him more then anything and was willing to spoil him on his birthday.

"Coffee break!" Melinda cried as she dove off the bed and started to orb to the siblings' favourite café.

"Mel!" Wyatt grabbed her arm before she could orb out completely. "Get dressed first."

"Oh yeah." Melinda bolted out of the room and down the hallway towards her room. Chris and Wyatt exchanged looks before the sound of Melinda's orbs filled the room again.

"That was quick." Chris commented with a smile.

"Thank you." Melinda smiled sheepishly.

"Can we go now?" Wyatt said sounding like he was totally bored with the cheesy exchange between his baby brother and sister. Chris pulled himself out of bed and orbed all the wrapping paper to the garbage. Melinda and Wyatt took that as a cue to let him get dressed in peace.

"Now we wait." Wyatt sighed as the door to Chris' room swung shut. Melinda nodded in response.

* * *

The Halliwell trio stood across the road from their favourite café. Looking to make sure that no one was watching, they orbed into the little café, which had been their home away from home (and Magic School) since Wyatt's junior year of High School. The place was run by a friend of Wyatt's who just so happened to be a witch and knew of the trio's parentage. She was one of the few people who actually understood the pressures of being the offspring of two separate magical beings.

"Ah, I thought I might see you today." Said the woman at the counter. She issued the trio a smile as they edged closer to her. She had olive skin and chestnut coloured hair with blonde and red streaks that looked almost natural. Under her apron, she was wearing a white and black dress.

"Hey, Mitz." Wyatt greeted with a smile.

"Oh, and I must say happy birthday Chris." Mitzy said with a sweet smile.

"Thanks." Chris chuckled.

"So the usual I assume?" Mitzy said as she turned around to start making up the orders.

"You got it." Wyatt said with a laugh.

"Oh and don't forget the caramel donut." Chris said suddenly remembering.

"Oh yeah. Now because it's your birthday, Chris, its on the house, like its always been." Mitzy issued a smile towards Chris and pulled out from under counter a brown paper with the donut she always saved for Chris.

"Thanks." Chris smiled.

"No problem."

"You coming tonight?" Melinda asked.

"As much as I would love to I can't. Mom's got me working double shifts for the next couple of nights." Mitzy said with a sigh.

"That sucks." Wyatt commented over his shoulder as the siblings walked over to their regular table. Mitzy walked out from behind the counter and joined them. She was thankful that the café was empty. It usually was until noon came around for the lunch rush.

"Tell me about it. I don't usually miss something like this but I tried to get mom to come around but she said if I wanted to go to the restaurant with you guys tonight, I would risk losing my job."

"Why would Jem say that to you? It's not like her." Wyatt said with a frown.

"I know its odd. Normally, she's all for it seeing as you guys are the closest thing we have to a real family."

Mitzy's family was very complicated. The only real family she had was her mother and the Halliwell clan. Mitzy's father had been mortal and had been killed when she was seven by something supernatural, Mitzy's mother Jemine or Jem, as she was known to everyone who knew her, didn't like to talk about her husband's death any more then Phoebe liked talking about her relationship with Cole Turner. Jem also had a brother and sister who were estranged because of the obvious reasons that the Halliwells could understand only too well. They were bad to the bone.

"Did you notice anything strange after that?" Melinda asked.

"Yeah, for a matter of fact I did," Mitzy paused and exchanged looks with Melinda. "She kept mumbling about losing everything."

"Everything what?" Wyatt asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine."

There was silence for a moment before Chris decided to speak up. "Well, we'll have to work something out."

"Oh, yeah," Mitzy said getting to her feet. "Well, enjoy your coffees and Chris enjoy your birthday."

"Thanks, I'm sure I will knowing Wy and Mel like I do." Chris smiled.

* * *

As the day progressed, Wyatt and Melinda took Chris to their favourite hangout known as the Miller's Hangar. It was an abandoned aircraft hangar that had been owned by Harrington Miller, one of the guys Phoebe worked with at the Bay Mirror. He worked in the guise of a mortal but like Phoebe and her sisters, he was a witch. When Phoebe had told him about how her daughters, nieces and nephews needed a hangout that was when Miller had suggested the Hangar. It had been the Halliwell-Mitchell hangout ever since.

"This is great," Chris commented from the rafters of the hangar. "We haven't hung out in ages."

"Too true," Melinda agreed. "I'm just glad I didn't have to go to school today."

"You know how mom feels about you not going to school. Especially on someone's birthday." Wyatt frowned before turning his gaze on Chris.

"What?" Chris exclaimed. "I didn't encourage her!"

"I wasn't accusing you, little brother it's just that I'm following mom's orders." Wyatt said.

"_You _following orders?" Melinda scoffed. "That's a first. Besides, its only one day of the year."

"Christmas and New Year don't count." Chris chimed in.

"The _point _is, " Wyatt said regaining his sister's attention. "That if mom finds out about this she'll fry you alive."

"I appreciate the concern Wyatt but I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. I _do _have the same power as her but I'm more powerful she is, remember?"

"Oh, that's right," said Chris. "The next generation is generally more powerful then the previous generation. How could we forget something like that?" Chris turned his gaze down to Wyatt who was standing directly under him.

"Me? You mean you, right?" Wyatt said looking up at his brother.

Melinda's eyes darted up to Chris before they darted back down to Wyatt before deciding to break the fold in her brothers' brewing argument. "Okay, let's not go there, guys okay? As much as I love you both and why wouldn't I, as you are both my brothers but can we not get into a fist fight, today?"

"Who said anything about a fist fight?" Wyatt said, sounding as if his ego had been wounded.

"Please," Melinda said rolling her eyes. "We both know Chris would rather use his fists on you then magic."

Wyatt turned his eyes upwards towards their brother, a sneaky smile crossing his face. He was about to orb out to where Chris was perched when the man in question spoke up.

"Don't even think about it, Wyatt." Wyatt frowned and looked over at Melinda who frowned in return.

"Oh come on," he said. "It's your birthday. Don't be such a cranky shit."

"Yeah, Chris. Loosen up." Melinda agreed.

"I'll loosen up when I'm certain I can get this bad vibe out of my head."

"Whoa, what bad vibe?" Wyatt asked before orbing to Chris' side. Melinda looked up.

"It's just strange. I keep getting this feeling that something bad is going to happen tonight." Chris bowed his head. Melinda and Wyatt exchanged looks.

"Chris," Melinda said gently as she too orbed to her brother's side. "How could anything go bad tonight? It's going to be perfect. You're going to finally get the chance to introduce Bianca to the family. What's the worst that could happen?"

"That's what scares me." Chris mumbled.

* * *

The rest of the day past in a rush and the family dinner drew nearer with every second that went by. At 6pm there was a knock on the front door of the manor. Melinda hurried down the stairs and answered it.

"Mel!" Bianca said when the door opened. Mel giggled as they hugged.

"Come on!" Melinda pulled Bianca into the house, allowing the door to swing shut. The girls were halfway up the stairs when Wyatt and Chris walked in.

"What's the rush?" Wyatt called up to Melinda. Melinda ignored them as she and Bianca hit the second floor landing.

"I wonder what that was about." Chris said, turning his gaze on Wyatt.

"Who knows."

* * *

Melinda stood looking through her wardrobe, looking for something to wear to Chris' birthday dinner while Bianca sat on the bed watching her.

"Mel, relax. It's Chris' birthday dinner not a dinner date." Bianca said with amusement.

Melinda turned to her. "I'm not doing this for Chris' benefit I'm doing it for mine," Upon seeing Bianca's expression, Melinda blushed and explained. "Duncan's going to be there."

"Duncan?" Bianca said to herself. "Your dance partner?"

"He's not just my dance partner. He's a family friend." Bianca arched a perfect black eyebrow at Melinda before realisation hit her.

"You like him." A sly smile crossed the Phoenix assassin's face.

"I'm _in love _with him." Melinda sighed and went over to sit next to her.

"Honey, tell me more."

Melinda was quick to tell Bianca everything. After five minutes of explanation, Bianca had come to her conclusion.

"You've got it bad, Melly." Bianca gave the teenager a gentle smile. Melinda was taken back. No one _ever _called her 'Melly' except Chris when they were younger.

"I don't know what to do around him anymore. I don't know what to say around him. I-I sweat whenever we rehearsal ballroom and Latin routines. I feel so… helpless." Melinda slouched miserably.

"You know what I think?" Bianca asked. Melinda didn't look up. "I say go for it." At this Melinda's head shot up.

"R-really?" she asked. She was surprised when Bianca nodded.

"Absolutely. Chris did. When I thought our relationship was doomed, it was Chris that told me that nothing was impossible and that we could work it out and guess what, he was right. Mel, you are the strongest teenager I have ever met. Duncan will be crazy if he doesn't go out with you and if he doesn't feel the same way, keep fighting for him." Melinda was amazed. She had seen just how cruel and calculating Bianca could be but she was overwhelmed with how nice she actually was.

"B?" Bianca turned her head that see Melinda was now looking at her. "Thanks." Bianca beamed and leaned forward and hugged her tightly.

"Anytime Melinda." Behind her back, Melinda smiled before she pulled out of the hug.

"Now, we have to get ready. We don't want to stand Chris up now do we?" Melinda teased. She then looked at what Bianca was wearing. "You are _not _wearing that." The youngest Charmed One gestured to Bianca's black mini skirt and tank top. Bianca looked down at herself and knew she was right. She nodded and snapped her fingers.

Melinda smiled when she saw what Bianca was now wearing. A white dress with a sports bra styled back that sat just above her knee. "Perfect." Melinda herself then snapped her own fingers and the same outfit appeared on her, only in black. She then looked down at her feet to find that she was wearing her new Latin dance shoes.

Both girls turned to wardrobe mirror doors to find that their hair and makeup had been done as well.

"That was a quick change," Melinda stated. Bianca nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

Wyatt and Chris stood at the foot of the stairs waiting for the girls to come down.

"Should I go up get them?" Wyatt asked his younger brother.

"No need." Melinda said. Her brothers' heads shot up as she and Bianca came down the stairs.

"Wow." Was all Chris' mouth was able to get out. Wyatt elbowed Chris in the shoulder to snap him out of his sudden dreamlike trance. Melinda and Bianca looked at each other.

"Come on, bubble boy," said Bianca. "We don't want to be late." With that, she and Melinda stepped down the final steps so that they were now standing with Chris and Wyatt. Bianca took Chris' arm and they orbed out. Wyatt and Melinda weren't far behind.

* * *

The Halliwells and Bianca orbed into the foyer of Halliwell's. Thankful that there were no mortals around, Wyatt and Melinda led the way into the main part of the restaurant. Bianca froze as she watched Melinda and Wyatt embrace a man that must have been their grandfather, Victor a few tables away.

"Hey," Chris said gently causing Bianca to turn her head to look at him. "Everything's going to be fine." Bianca wasn't normally nervous around people but she was now. She looked down to find that Chris had intertwined their fingers. She allowed him to pull her forward and towards the Halliwell table.

The table was a combination of three six-seat tables and was covered with white linen tablecloths. Bianca could see the man, Victor sitting next to a girl around the same age as Melinda. She, along with her twin sister had red hair that matched that of their mother who was sitting between them. Bianca recognised the three people as Chris' Aunt Paige and his twin cousins Tamora and Kat. Across the table from Paige was another man who had to be Henry, Chris' uncle. Beside Henry was another woman who Bianca recognised as Phoebe.

"Chris!" came a voice that cut through Bianca's thoughts. She turned to see a small brunette haired girl running towards Chris. Bianca watched as Chris crouched down to the girl's height before he scooped her into his arms.

"Oh look at you," Chris said with a smile. "You've grown since the last time I saw you, Pan." Pandora giggled as Chris kissed her on the cheek. Her eyes then turned on Bianca. Chris caught her gaze and turned to see her staring at Bianca. "Pan, this is my girlfriend, Bianca," Chris then addressed Bianca. "Babe, this is my little cousin Pandora."

"So this is the little cousin, I have heard so much about." Bianca smiled at Pandora and the girl smiled in return.

Chris turned when someone tapped him on the shoulder and put Pandora back down on the ground. "Forgetting someone?"

"Hi Aunt Pheebs." Chris said as hugged his aunt before addressing the rest of his family. "Aunt Phoebe, everybody, I would like you to meet my girlfriend, Bianca."

"Hi Bianca!" the Halliwell-Mitchell clan greeted.

"Hi, nice to meet you all." Bianca said with a small smile. She felt so welcome. Chris and Melinda had been right; their family already loved her. Chris then introduced Bianca to the various members of the family including Duncan and Tess. After the introductions had gone around, Chris guided Bianca over to an empty seat between Melinda and Prue while he joined H.J. at the head of the table.

"Oh!" Phoebe exclaimed turning her head to Melinda. "Melinda, did you get in contact with, you know."

"Oh yeah I did." Melinda pulled her iPad from her bag and quickly activated her Skype app.

"_Hi, baby," _came the all too familiar voice of Piper Halliwell.

"No way!" Chris exclaimed. "Is that mom?" Wyatt, who was sitting next to Duncan laughed. Melinda turned the device in Chris' direction.

"_Hi!" _Piper and Leo waved.

"Hi, about time we heard from you guys." Chris smiled.

"_Sorry honey but we were enjoying ourselves too much."_ Piper laughed.

"Hey Aunt Piper, hi Uncle Leo!" H.J. called out.

"_Hey H.J."_ Leo said with a smile that H.J. couldn't see.

"Do you want to say hi to everyone else?" Wyatt asked.

"_Sure, why not."_ Said Piper. Melinda handed the iPad over to Chris and he turned it around so that the screen was facing the family.

"Hi!" the Halliwell clan cried with enthusiastic waves.

"_Hi everybody!" _ Piper said with a laugh. She and Leo looked at each other before turning their attention back to their assembled family. _"Before we forget, happy birthday Chris."_

Chris smiled even though he couldn't see his parents. "Thanks mom, thanks dad."

"_We're sorry we can't be there personally,"_ Leo apologised. _"But we're having so much fun where we are."_

"That's alright dad," said Chris. "I understand."

Chris turned the tablet around so that he could see Piper and Leo. _"Did you get our present?"_ Leo asked.

"Yeah, he sure did," Parker called from where she was sitting beside Victor. Victor fixed her with a look before he turned back to watching Chris' conversation with Piper and Leo. "I think he loved it." Parker turned her eyes to her cousin who nodded before she watched Chris turn back to the iPad.

"_We're really sorry that we can't chat longer honey, but we have dinner plans that we have to get to." _Piper said sounding sympathetic that she and Leo couldn't chat with their family for much longer.

"Oh okay, then. I'll email you about tonight's adventures shall I?" Chris said.

"_Sounds good sweetie."_ Piper said with a smile.

"Okay, say bye mom and dad." Melinda said reaching for her iPad. Chris turned the device around one last time so that it was facing the family but not before smacking Melinda's hand away.

"Bye!" the family cried.

"_Bye everyone." _Piper and Leo waved and the device switched off.

"That was fun." Wyatt said after a moment of silence.

"_Quite."_ The Halliwells turned to look behind Wyatt.

"What?" Wyatt exclaimed. Melinda pointed to where the rest of the family was staring. Wyatt frowned and turned around.

Bianca's eyes widened at the sight before her. Her mother was standing about fifty feet from where she was sitting with a man a few years older then her and two women who must have been part of the coven. Without thinking, she rose to her feet, summoning her athame to her hand.

"You betrayed me, daughter." Bianca's eyes remained focused on her mother, her eyes portraying her defiance.

"She does as she want." Bianca's head snapped in the direction of Melinda who had risen to her feet.

"Well, well, a Halliwell. How… divine." Lynn cocked her head to the side.

From where she was standing at Melinda's side, Bianca watched as the man at her mother's side shook his head before he shimmered out. Lynn seemed to take no notice as she continued to stare menacingly at her daughter.

"Uncle Coop, Aunt Paige, get H.J., Gramps and Uncle Henry out of here." Melinda called to her uncle and aunt. Coop and Paige hesitated.

One of the two women raised a hand and lightening started to flicker from her fingertips.

"Aunt Paige, Uncle Coop, do it now!" Melinda hissed, her eyes still on Lynn. Coop and Paige continued to hesitate.

Wyatt pushed his chair back allowing it to fall back onto the ground with a loud _thud! _

"Wy, don't!" Chris cried but it was too late. Wyatt telekinetically shoved the lightening wielding woman into the wall directly behind her. The lightening fired from her fingers and hit both Melinda and Bianca in the chests, sending them flying.

"MELINDA!" Chris screamed. "BIANCA!" He watched helplessly as his sister and girlfriend were sent flying. They then crashed into a nearby table, which then threw them to the ground. Chris started to step towards the fallen girls when Wyatt stopped him.

"No, don't." Wyatt then orbed to his sister's side. He looked up when he felt Chris' frantic gaze on him. "Chris, stop Lynn." Chris nodded before he too orbed out.

Wyatt turned his gaze back to his fallen sister and Bianca. Raising his hands over the pair, he allowed his healing magic to heal them. He turned his head in Bianca's direction when he heard her gasp. There was a second gasp from Melinda and both girls sat up.

"Oh, my head." Melinda held her head in her hands.

"W-Where's Chris?" Bianca asked, her voice shaky with fear.

"He's fine. He's with Prue." Melinda told her. She hated lying through her teeth.

"Wyatt! A little help here!" Chris called.

Wyatt turned to see Bianca's look of suspicion. He gave her a nervous smile before he started to prepare himself to orb to Chris' side.

"No, I'll go. You stay with Bianca." Melinda said before she disappeared in her usual shower of orbs.

* * *

Chris was having trouble holding Lynn off. She was just too powerful for him to take on by himself.

"Give it up, Halliwell. Your pitiful Whitelighter-witch powers are no match for me." Lynn sneered at him.

"Don't be too sure." Lynn suddenly became confused. Chris turned his head just in time to see Melinda orb in. Chris had to blink twice. He could have sworn that he saw Melinda throw up her hands in Lynn's direction. The Phoenix witch smiled before shimmering out.

"You let her get away." Chris said incredulously.

Before Melinda could speak up, there were two hallowing screams from the two women that had accompanied Lynn. The women had burst into flames. Chris and Melinda turned to see Bianca posed in an attack position, her athame pointed out.

"Whoa." A sly smile crossed Chris' face. Melinda scoffed before elbowing him in the ribs.

"Ah!" Chris groaned as he rubbed his ribs.

"You guys okay?" Paige asked as she and Kat ran up to the siblings.

"Yeah, we're fine." Melinda said as she looked around the room. Tables were upturned. Walls were smashed in with holes the size of small craters.

"Oh god! Aunt Piper is going to kill us when she finds out what occurred here." Kat said biting her lip.

"Chris!" Chris turned to see that Bianca had fainted and that Wyatt was struggling to hold her up. Chris then hurried to Bianca's side.

"Alright, Aunt Paige, Kat, get the mortals to the manor, we'll clean up what we can here," Melinda said. Paige and Kat nodded and disappeared to help Victor, H.J. and Henry. "Wyatt, go with them. Take Bianca with you and make sure you get the twins and Aunt Paige to help you." Wyatt nodded and orbed out with Bianca in tow.

"Okay, now what?" Chris asked after Wyatt, Kat and Paige had orbed out.

"Well, we start cleaning up." Chris and Melinda looked at each other.

* * *

It took Melinda and Chris a good hour of trying to get the restaurant back into order but thanks to the vanishing spell they were able to restore the restaurant back to its former glory. The hardest part was erasing the memories of the mortal staff members. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone in the restaurant at the time other then the Halliwells.

Arriving back at the Manor, Melinda and Chris found Coop sitting in one of the armchairs with Pandora while Wyatt sat on the couch guarding a sleeping Bianca. Coop and Wyatt looked up when they heard Melinda and Chris' orbs.

"How is she?" Chris asked Wyatt in reference to Bianca.

"She's fine. A little shaken up but she'll be okay."

"Poor Bianca," said Melinda sympathetically. "I feel so sorry for her. She must feel so alone."

"Yeah." Chris nodded in agreement.

Melinda stepped away from her brothers and went into the kitchen where she found Phoebe, Paige and a few of their daughters. They looked up when they heard Melinda enter the room.

"I am so sorry that I hesitated, Mel." Paige said pleadingly.

"Why did you? You should have enough experience in this type of thing, Paige." Melinda spat.

"I froze, alright. It has been years since I have done this sort of thing." Paige argued.

"She's right Mel," Phoebe said in her sister's defence. "I know she did wrong but Coop hesitated too."

"Don't you think I know that?" Melinda hissed. "Because of your hesitation, Gramps, H.J. and Uncle Henry could have been killed. Do you want your husband dead, Aunt Paige?" Melinda turned the argument on Paige.

"Honey, I'm sorry. I know what Coop and I did was wrong and that it could have cost lives but it didn't, did it?"

"Mel, I know how much being charmed means to you and your brothers but things like this happened to us too when Paige, Piper and I were charmed." Phoebe said trying to soothe her niece's anger.

"And Aunt Prue?" Tamora asked from the table.

"Yes, even Prue. But we ended up saving more lives then we did lose them."

"Does that include demonic ex-husbands?" P.J. asked. She and her sisters knew all about their mother's first marriage to Cole and the unborn child that Phoebe had been pregnant with.

"Depends on how you look at it." Paige told her niece. She had never been a real big fan of Cole's.

"The _point _is that Wyatt, Chris and I won't make the same mistakes you made."

"We hope you don't won't, now come here." Phoebe held out her arms and Melinda was quick to walk into her aunt's embrace.

"I love you Aunt Phoebe. You too Aunt Paige." Melinda said as she hugged Phoebe.

"We love you too Mel." Paige said as Melinda pulled out of Phoebe's hug and into Paige's.

"Aww!" the girls turned to see Wyatt standing in the doorway.

"How much of our conversation did you hear?" Paige asked her nephew.

"Not a lot," Wyatt's eyes then turned to Melinda. "Mel, Chris wants to talk to you." Melinda nodded and pulled herself out of Paige's hug before following Wyatt from the room.

In the living room, the pair found their brother sitting on the couch with Bianca's head in his lap. Chris smiled down at her as he stoked her hair, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay.

Melinda cleared her throat and Chris looked up. "You wished to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I did," He paused to allow Bianca to sit up. She was wide awake now. "Is it just me or was there a man with Lynn and those two women that had accompanied her?"

"Yeah, I saw him too. He just shook his head and shimmered out."

"Well, its clear that he didn't want to hurt us," Wyatt said thoughtfully. He then turned his attention to Bianca. "B, do you know who the man was?" Bianca looked up at him fearfully but didn't say anything. "Right, Mel, see if you can pick up his trail. If you can find him, maybe he will give you the answers we need." Melinda nodded and orbed out.

"I'll check the_ Book _to see if there's anything on these two women." Chris and Wyatt looked at each other before realising that neither one of them had spoken. They both turned their gazes on Bianca.

"Are you sure, babe? Do you think you're up to it?" Chris asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. This was my fault. It was the lie that I feed to my mother that brought them to the restaurant. I'll never forgive myself for what happened."

"Bianca," Wyatt sat beside her. "It wasn't your fault. You were following your heart. Chris," Chris looked over at him. "Thank god you didn't introduce Bianca to mom and dad. Mom would have been blowing things up. Until we know what we're dealing with, you're going to have to wait for mom and dad to get back from their vacation to tell them." Chris nodded in agreement.

"As much as I would love to argue with you Wyatt, I won't. You're right. If mom and dad knew about this, mom would have dragged dad on the first plane home and then she would have blasted our arses to who knows where."

Bianca jumped up off the couch, her fear completely gone. "As much as I would love to listen to you boys talking about where your mother would blast your sorry arses to, we have to find out who those bitches were and hopefully why they were ready to have Melinda and I barbequed." With that, she turned on her heel and headed for the stairs. Chris and Wyatt gave each other one last look before hurrying after her.

* * *

Melinda orbed into an old warehouse at the edge of town. She had a hunch that this was where the man from the restaurant raid would be. The warehouse was dank and dark and smelled like mold. Melinda knew this wasn't the worst place she had ever been in.

"Who are you?" a male voice called out in the gloom, his voice bouncing off the walls of the warehouse.

Melinda muttered a spell under her breath and a flashlight appeared in her hand. She then shone the light in the direction of the man's voice. The man quickly raised his hands to shield his face from the light. "I was going to ask you the same thing." Melinda said as she drew closer to the man.

"You first." The man said, his tone suggested malice.

"My name's Melinda Halliwell. You do realise that you almost destroyed the restaurant of my mother, Piper Halliwell, right?"

"I wasn't with them!" the man snapped. "My mother wanted me to go along to threaten my sister."

"Your sister?"

"Yes, the girlfriend of Chris Halliwell."

"Bianca is your sister?" Melinda asked in disbelief.

"She never told you or your brother? Typical Bianca. She has never liked getting into the private parts of her life."

"You haven't told me what your name is." Melinda hissed.

"Brenton, but feel free to call me Brent." Melinda scoffed and rolled her eyes in disgust. She hated it when boys thought that they could simply flirt with her because she was the only daughter of Piper and Leo. Little did many boys realise that Chris and Wyatt where fiercely protective of their baby sister.

"First off, I wouldn't date you if you were last guy on Earth and second, why did Lynn choose tonight of all nights to try and turn Bianca back to her side?"

"Bianca has always been a terrible liar. It doesn't matter now hard she tries; she has never been able to keep her emotions in check. My mother on the other hand, now she is someone you will have to watch out for."

"How dangerous is she?" Melinda asked, her tone signifying her defiance.

"Well, as her son and eldest child, I would say she wasn't the best mother in the world." Brent raised his eyebrows mockingly. Melinda rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, my mother is not a woman to be trifled with. She can strip your powers quicker then you can cast a spell."

"Yeah, okay, I've had enough of this." With a wave of her hand, Melinda orbed a protesting Brent to the attic of the manor.

* * *

Brent cursed as he appeared in the Halliwell Manor attic. Melinda wasn't far behind him.

"What the hell?" Chris exclaimed as Melinda summoned the crystals to imprison Brent. "Prudence Melinda Halliwell. Answer me!" he ordered.

"Brent?" Bianca said as she stepped out from behind the Book of Shadows pedestal. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Good to see you too, little sister."

A look of shock crossed Wyatt and Chris' faces.

* * *

"Sister? My girlfriend is your sister?" Chris asked in total disbelief. He turned his gaze on Bianca. She squirmed under his gaze.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to think that I was still in league with my mother." Bianca looked about ready to cry. Melinda stepped over to her and side-hugged her.

"It's all right, B. You didn't know this was going to happen. None of us did." Melinda then turned her gaze to Chris and Wyatt. "Okay, you two, what did you find out about the women?" She wen over and joined her brothers behind the book.

"Unfortunately, not much. It appears that no Warren witch has come up against these women. Ever." Wyatt said with a sigh. He then shifted his gaze on the caged Brent.

"Tell us what you know and we'll let you go." Stunned, Chris hit his brother in the head. "Ouch! What the hell was that for?" Chris shrugged.

"Okay, okay, I'll talk." Brent called from the cage. With a sweeping hand gesture, Chris allowed the cage to dissolve and crystals to return to where they had been before.

Brent, ignoring the look of angst that Bianca was throwing him, went and sat somewhat obediently on the couch. Melinda turned to look at him in amazement. It was like seeing Bianca but in a guy's body. He looked a lot like her in the same way Melinda was a combination between her brothers.

"Okay, Warehouse boy, talk." Melinda said as she slumped down next to Wyatt on the floor.

Brent told the siblings and Bianca everything he knew. He avoided Bianca's gaze completely not wanting to send her into a fury. Upon seeing this, Wyatt thought it was best that he, Chris and Melinda leave.

"Okay, Mel, Chris why don't we go and help Aunt Paige with something?" Wyatt grabbed Chris by the arm while Melinda didn't need to be told twice. She got up and followed her brothers out the door and back down the stairs.

Once the door closed behind Melinda, Brent turned to Bianca who turned her head away from him. "Say something. I don't care what you say just talk to me."

"What do you want me to say, Brent? Mother put me through hell!" Bianca hissed at her brother.

"No, she put _me_ through hell!" Brent hissed in return.

"YOU were always her favourite." Bianca pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Don't you _dare_ point at me! She always treasured you because being the girl, you're more powerful then I ever was going to be."

"That is such-" Brent was cut off mid sentence because Melinda had cleared her throat.

"Mel, honey, what are you doing up here? I thought you went down with your brothers." Bianca said kindly. Brent frowned and Bianca threw him a dirty look.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your peeving session. I just wanted to ask you something."

"Of course, Mel anything." Bianca said with a small smile.

"I just overheard Brent saying that you're more powerful because you're a girl, right?"

"That's correct. Why do you ask?" Bianca asked, her head tilted to one side.

"Does your mother have any weaknesses?"

"A few." Brent said. Melinda nodded and took that as a positive.

"What's your plan?" Bianca stepped forward as she spoke, a look of hope crossing her face.

"We use one of them." Melinda said, her voice signifying her determination.

* * *

"You want to do what?" Paige asked in disbelief.

"Get under Lynn's skin. Show her what its like to be toyed with." Melinda said with a cheeky smile.

"How do you propose we do that?" Chris asked.

"That's where I come in." Bianca said stepping to Melinda's side. Chris' head snapped in her direction.

"Are you crazy? Your mother is way more powerful then you are."

"I can handle it." Bianca assured him.

"No," Wyatt stepped forward and slung an arm around Melinda's shoulders. "_We_ can handle it."

Chris watched as the faces of his brother, sister and girlfriend turned into convincing smiles. He sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, you three. You win." Wyatt smiled widely and patted Melinda on the back. "But, there are rules that we have to follow. Since this was Mel's idea, she leads the mission. No screw-ups. Clear?"

"Yes, little brother." Wyatt smiled.

Melinda smiled in return and stepped forward to hug Chris. "Thank you so much big brother."

"No problem. Do mom and her sisters proud." Melinda pulled out of Chris' hug and kissed him on the cheek. She then stepped back into line with Wyatt and Bianca. Chris then turned to Paige who was leaning against doorframe. She nodded before orbing out. Chris turned back to the trio that was patiently waiting for him. "Okay, let's go."

* * *

Wyatt, Chris and Melinda with Bianca and Brent in tow orbed to the one place they knew where Lynn was likely to be: at the family apartment.

"Do you think she's here?" Brent whispered to his sister.

Before Bianca had a chance to speak up, the lights flickered on and Lynn shimmered into the room.

"My darling daughter. You finally decided to desert that boyfriend of yours?"

"Not quite." Melinda said throwing her hands up to blow Lynn up. Lynn dodged the teenager's attempt to blow her up.

"Prudence Melinda Halliwell, I presume? You really are like your mother." Lynn sneered.

"It's Melinda, thank you." Melinda hissed through her teeth. She went to step forward but Chris grabbed her arm.

"Christopher Perry Halliwell, the second son of Piper Halliwell. Brother of Wyatt and Melinda," Chris froze, his hand still clutching Melinda's arm. "Boyfriend of my daughter, Bianca." Bianca grabbed Chris' hand. Chris didn't have to look down to know that Bianca wanted him to blast her mother into space.

"Leave my boyfriend and his family out of this!" Bianca snarled. Wyatt grabbed her shoulder.

"If it isn't the most powerful male witch of all time; Wyatt Matthew Halliwell." Lynn stepped forward, her heeled shoes clicking on the floor tiles. Wyatt clenched his jaw defiantly.

Brent, having heard enough of his mother's bragging, grabbed Melinda's hand before he raised his own, channeling her power to blow things up.

"You wouldn't vanquish your own mother, would you Brenton?" Lynn said mockingly placing a hand over her heart and looking as if Brent's gesture had emotionally hurt her.

_Brent, don't EVER try to channel my powers again! _ Melinda said sending a telepathic message to Brent.

Wyatt and Chris looked at Melinda in amazement. Melinda threw her brothers a look of disgust. They had clearly heard every word she had uttered soundlessly to Brent.

"What you didn't think I could use telepathy?" she asked sarcastically.

"Mel, not now." Bianca muttered under her breath.

Lynn looked toward the Halliwell siblings to see that they were ready for a fight. Brent and Bianca flanked Melinda and Chris. Lynn turned to face her straying children. "You don't want to do this. I know you don't." A wicked smile crossed her arrogant face.

"How do you figure that, mother?" Brent snapped.

"Easy. I'm your mother."

"No you're not. You're just using us," Bianca said, her eyes still on her mother. "Now, Melinda."

Melinda used all her willpower as she flicked her hands in an attempt to blow Lynn to smithereens. When the blows didn't connect she started to worry in a very Piper Halliwell-like manner. "Ah, why is she not blowing up?" Chris and Wyatt looked just as worried as their sister. They were having serious déjà vu from what happened at the restaurant earlier on in the evening.

"What's wrong?" Lynn sneered. "No firepower? Aw, too bad." Melinda looked up from her hands. Chris flickered a hand at Lynn, which sent her flying into a nearby wall.

"Why is it your powers are working and mine aren't?" Melinda said in a panicked tone.

Chris couldn't come up with a sarcastic comeback. He yelped when Lynn summoned an athame. "Ah, Wyatt do something, please."

"You do something. Technically, she is your unofficial mother-in-law." Chris threw a disgusted in his brother's direction.

Lynn started to advance on the siblings. Brent had protectively stepped in front of Bianca; while she had summoned her own athame to her hand just in case she needed to use it.

Melinda held out her hands and Wyatt and Chris took them. The trio could feel each other's powers flow through their veins. Chris and Melinda could feel Wyatt's powerful telekinesis flow through them. Chris felt himself relax as Wyatt's telekinesis and Melinda's powers flowed through him as if their powers were his own. Melinda stood proud as both her brothers' telekinesis strengthened as it flowed through her and seemingly combined with her own powers.

_The Power of Three we now decree _

_The Power of Three will set you free _

_The Power of Three will destroy thee_

The Halliwell siblings repeated the spell and every time they said it, they said it with more force. From their corner, Brent and Bianca watched as the spell envelope their mother who looked around frantically, looking for a loophole in the spell. She looked at her children and held out her hand, pleadingly. She mouthed, _'Please'. _Too late. She disappeared in an explosion of flames.

Brent moved aside allowing Bianca to slip past him and into Chris' arms.

"Oh thank god, that was so scary." Bianca whispered as Chris' arms tightened around her.

Wyatt, Brent and Melinda looked down at the black scorch mark on the floor."Lets get outta here." Wyatt said.

"We're not going to argue with you there. Let's go." Melinda said as she orbed out. Brent shimmered out behind her and Wyatt wasn't far behind them. Bianca clung to Chris with all her might as he orbed them back to the manor.

* * *

Chris and Bianca appeared in a shower of orbs on the couch in the manor living room. Even as Chris settled down on the couch, Bianca didn't budge.

"Oh thank god!" Melinda said when she entered the living room.

"We're fine Mel." Chris said brushing away his sister's concern.

"Okay, I'm going to take a shower. Wyatt, go and check on Aunt Paige, Uncle Henry and the kids. I will be down in a few minutes." Melinda turned to leave the room. Wyatt nodded but didn't orb out because he had a feeling that Chris had more to say.

"Melinda, Wyatt," Melinda and Wyatt turned back around to see Chris watching them. "Is it alright with you guys if Bianca says with us at least for tonight?"

Wyatt and Melinda looked at each other.

"I don't think I ever want to go back home." Bianca said shyly.

"Aw, sweetie, you can move in with us, its cool. Right, Wyatt?" Melinda elbowed Wyatt in the ribs. Wyatt cringed but quickly recovered.

"Yeah absolutely. We'd love for you to live with us." Wyatt smiled.

"Wyatt, go and fetch Bianca's stuff and orbed them home. She can share my room."

"No need." Brent had returned with Bianca's stuff.

"Oh, you wonderful, wonderful brother. I love you dearly." Bianca jumped to her feet and hurried over to her brother so that she could hug him.

Melinda smiled before she orbed to the bathroom. Wyatt orbed Bianca's stuff to Melinda's room before he orbed to Paige's to check on her and her family. Bianca sat back down next to Chris and felt herself relax as Chris' arms snaked around her.

"You seem much happier."

"I am a lot happier and you know what, I'm glad that I have friends like Wyatt and Melinda."

"Well, I'm glad I have you." Chris smiled.

"And Melinda and Wyatt?"

"And Melinda and Wyatt. If it wasn't them the new Power of Three couldn't function."

Bianca nodded. She leaned in to kiss him. She no longer felt scared and vulnerable. Chris, Wyatt and Melinda made her feel wanted and Chris made her feel loved. With her brother back on her side, Bianca knew that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

_NEXT TIME: With Christmas around the corner, Wyatt manages to convince Chris, Melinda and Bianca to help me out at magic school while many members of staff are away, leaving many of their classes unattended or suspended. How will the two youngest members of the new power of three cope with these extra duties?_

_To be Continued…_


End file.
